THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (1958)
[NARAYAMA BUSHIKO] [楢山節考]
This haunting, Kabuki-inflected version of a Japanese folk legend is set in a remote mountain village where food is scarce and tradition dictates that citizens who have reached their 70th year must be carried to the summit of Mount Narayama and left there to die. The sacrificial elder at the center of the tale is Orin (Kinuyo Tanaka), a dignified and dutiful woman who spends her dwindling days securing the happiness of her loyal widowed son with a respectable new wife. Filmed almost entirely on cunningly designed studio sets, in brilliant color and widescreen, THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA is a stylish and vividly formal work from Japan's cinematic golden age, directed by the dynamic Keisuke Kinoshita. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Keisuke Kinoshita, from the novel by Shichirō Fukazawa; PROD Masaharu Kokaji. Japan, 1958, color, 98 min. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, June 29, 2024
Genre: Drama