:
Sumiko Sakamoto,
Sumiko Sakamoto,
Ken Ogata,
more...
:
Shohei Imamura,
Shohei Imamura
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Animeigo
: Drama, Foreign, Costume Drama/Period Piece, Japan, Dysfunctional Families, Weepies
: 130 min.
: Japanese
: English
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In this second, award-winning interpretation of a novel by Shichiro Fukazawa, director Shohei Imamura has inserted some scenes of violence and ritual sex that are shocking and were absent in the first, 1958 film. The story is set in the 19th century in a remote and severely impoverished mountain village in northern Japan. In this fictional society, once the elderly have reached the age of 70 they are brought up Mount Nara, where ancient gods reside, and left to die hopefully blessed by the deities -- this sacrifice will free up food for someone else in the village. Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto) is a 69-year-old grandmother living with one of her sons and three grandchildren and she prepares for her departure for an entire year. Among other activities (not always morally acceptable), she gets a new wife for her oldest son, and then shows the wife where the best place is for catching fish and how to take care of the family. At the top of the mountain, hundreds of skeletons and hungry black crows wait for the next arrivals as the resigned grandmother and one grieving son make the final ascent together, the woman strapped to her son's back. Director Imamura has trenchantly probed the nature of inhumanity and survival in a small, everyman's village. Narayama Bushi Ko won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1983. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
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| A gracious self-sacrifice
by tungwaiyip
August 15, 2008 - 4:02 PM PDT
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2 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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The Ballad of Narayama is set in a remote village in Japan. There was a tradition that before a parent reaches the age of 70, the son will bring her on the back to a remote mountain, where she will let die alone, so as not be become a burden to the family in this very deprived village. Orin was 69. She was preparing for her journey. She reminds her son Tatsuhei not to behave like his father, who 30 years ago has evaded the duty of carrying his own mother to the mountain and brought disgrace to the whole family.
20 years after my first viewing of this film I have come to know director Shohei Imamura a little better. I have also paid more attention to the social theme depicted. Besides this mountain ritual, the village also harbors a great deal of brutality, which are often codified into traditions. In this world they are all part of a population control scheme. Just being the second born son relegate one to an underclass who would lose the right to marriage and starting one's own family. The problem of second son is sometimes avoided at the start by infanticide. Far from an idyllic village, this can also be a very ugly place. Scarcity can bring out the worst in human.
The journey into the mountain was long and arduous. As dictated by tradition, mother and son spent the last hours together almost without a word. Still you can see the love between them. She refuse the rice ball offered and insist the son should have it, perhaps just like the old days. The mother settled in the valley with nothing but a straw mat. It was a gracious self-sacrifice that was so moving. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 8.57)
7 Votes
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