The Ballad of Narayama
Nov 07, 2007
Shohei Imamura, 1983, Japan, 35mm, 130 min
THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA is a brutal and haunting, yet ultimately poignant meditation on the nature of existence. Shichiro Fukazawa's novel about the legend of people over the age of 70, taken to the mountains on their children's shoulders and left there to die, has always fascinated Imamura, who said that he wanted to shoot an entire film version on location when he was still an assistant director. Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
"A truly great film . . . A masterpiece of Japanese cinema to stand beside UGETSU, TOKYO STORY or THE SEVEN SAMURAI."-Michael Wilmington
"Imamura realizes this vision with shocking humor and immediacy, and then challenges us to say whether this fictitious community is more or less humane than ours. Awe-inspiring."-TIME OUT LONDON