Ballad of Narayama ( Narayama bushikô ) ( Narayama bushiko )

Ballad of Narayama (DVD) (*)

~~$36.99~~ $30.97

Original Title: Narayama bushikô
Alternate Title: Narayama bushiko
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Venice Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Japanese ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
100 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Interactive Menu
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1958 and produced in:
Japan ( India, Eastern Asia )

Directed By:
Keisuke Kinoshita

Written By:
Shichirô Fukazawa

Actors:
Kinuyo Tanaka
Teiji Takahashi
Yûko Mochizuki
Danko Ichikawa

Synopsis:

In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approaching 70, content to embrace her fate. Her widowed son Tatsuhei cannot bear losing his mother, even as she arranges his marriage to a widow his age. Her grandson Kesa, who's girlfriend is pregnant, is selfishly happy to see Orin die. Around them, a family of thieves are dealt with severely, and an old man, past 70, whose son has cast him out, scrounges for food. Will Orin's loving and accepting spirit teach and ennoble her family?

Alongside contemporaries Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu, director Keisuke Kinoshita is regarded as one of the greats in Japanese cinema. Combining Tabuchi theatre and masterful cinematic techniques, Ballad of Narayama is a beautiful and meditative tale of love and humanity that explores traditional Japanese cultural values. Based on the novel by Shichiro Fukazawa, the film recounts the ancient custom of younger inhabitants in a remote Japanese mountain village who are obliged to shepherd those over the age of seventy to the top of Mount Narayama to await their death. One such elder must first sort out the lives of her three children before she fulfills her duty to the village.

A 69-year-old Japanese widow (Kinuyo Tanaka) settles her life and then, by custom, climbs a mountain to die.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 13 May, 2008.

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