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?
Credits
The Ballad of Narayama Cast
| Name |
Character |
|
Seiji Miyaguchi
He was 44, 71 years old when he died
|
as Matayan |
|
Kinuyo Tanaka
She was 47, 66 years old when she died
|
as Orin |
|
Eijirō Tōno
He was 51, 87 years old when he died
|
as Messenger |
|
Ken Mitsuda
He was 56, 95 years old when he died
|
as Teruyan |
|
Yūnosuke Itō
He was 38, 60 years old when he died
|
as Matayan's son |
|
Yûko Mochizuki
She was 41, 60 years old when she died
|
as Tamayan |
|
Teiji Takahashi
He was 31, 33 years old when he died
|
as Tatsuhei |
The Ballad of Narayama Crew
