Ballad of Narayama, The

Released by: Animeigo
Released on: 6/10/2008
Director: Shohei Imamura
Cast: Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto, Tonpei Hidari, Aki Takejo, Shoichi Ozawa
Year: 1983
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The Movie:

This film is the story of the cycle of life and a family's existence in the isolated wilderness in the mountains of Japan, and the harsh reality of what it takes to survive. Tatsuhei (Ken Ogata), the head of the household, has recently been widowed and is responsible for two sons and infant daughter, his brother Risuke (Tonpei Hidari), and his mother Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto). They live in a tiny village with a number of other families sharing the same hardships.

Orin is less than a year from turning 70 years old. The law of the land is that when an elder reaches 70 years of age he or she has reached life's end and is brought up to Mt. Narayama to go to the god of the mountain. It doesn't matter if the person is still healthy and more than functional, as is Orin, that's just the way it is. So she goes about her everyday life and works hard to keep the family unit together and alive just as she always has. Her son Tatsuhei is burdened with many things, including the knowledge that he must soon takes her mother up the mountain and leave her to die, and the guilt he feels over something he did as a young man. Plus his mother arranged to have a new wife for him to help take care of the baby and the family after Orin leaves to die so he's got that to deal with too.

Orin and Tatsuhei aren't the only ones under stress. His brother Risuke (who has an odor problem), being the second born son and a yakko (second or subsequent son, not allowed to marry but kept around to work), is horny as all get up. Yakkos are not allowed to procreate he's forced to do what the other yakkos in the village do: masturbate while spying on others having sex or screw the village dog. But he over hears a dying husband's demand to his wife and what she is told to do is good news to the yakkos, but still causes him anguish. Then there's Tatsuhei's first son who has impregnated a village girl with a secret that the rest of the village frowns upon once discovered, and so he has to deal with that trouble as well.

There's more things going on, but in a nutshell it's really about the culture and life cycle of this isolated community and others like it. It's a fascinating look at a world without luxuries, a society without government (although there are laws and elders) and an existence that hinges on doing what one has to do to survive rather than what one wants to do to be happy. Orin's character is the most interesting. She knows the things that need to be done to keep the family alive and the village together. One particular act of hers seems cruel at first but when understood it is realized just how amazing she is in being able to overcome compassion in order to prevent a situation from becoming worse. Both her sons' characters are also quite intriguing. The relationship between the two brothers is one that is obviously a caring one, even though Stinky (as the villagers call Risuke) is of lower stature, and you get the sense that Tatsuhei has more modern opinions and ideas that don't quite jive with the way of the village. In spite of all he is up against, he's a bit tragic and you can't help but feel for the guy.

The photography is outstanding. Filmed in the mountains and the wild, the natural setting makes for great visuals and the sense of near total isolation is prevalent throughout. Lots of animals are captured on film, many of them mating, some of them eating other animals, seemingly as a sort of parallel to the humans doing things of the same nature (there's a number of sex scenes and nudity here for the pervs). Well, not the eating of each other part, but there's a particularly disturbing sequence in the story that involves justice being exacted. A survival of the fittest sort of message is perhaps the parallel there. Either way the filmmaker's are certainly making some sort of point here that people are like all other animals in that they are here to propagate the species and do what they have to in order to live day to day.

The Ballad of Narayama is quite frankly one of the best films of this type to come across this reviewer's path in quite some time. The over two-hour running time never once seemed tedious, the characters and story are intriguing, there are moments of comedy, and the movie is expertly crafted. Thoroughly captivated from start to finish and time well spent. It warrants repeat viewing for sure.

Video/Audio/Extras:

The film is presented in a 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen aspect ratio. The colors in the film are mostly natural colors (green, brown, white, blue) and nothing real vibrant, but they look as they should. The blacks could be a bit deeper, and the darker scenes are a bit grainy, but for the most part look just fine. No noticeable pixelation to report. The cinematography is at times quite impressive and there's always something to look at even when little is happening on the screen. Honestly, there's nothing negative to report about the picture quality. AnimEigo did a really nice job.

The audio is a 2.0 Dolby Digital mix which really sounds likes it a mono track coming from two speakers, but that's just fine. The levels are consistent throughout and honestly any more than just the two channels would not be necessary. Not with this film anyway. This is a Japanese language movie, so unless you speak it, you'll need the subtitles. There are two options: “full” which give the normal type on the bottom of the screen and on top provide cultural notes and definitions, or “limited” which gives the normal type at the bottom. The audio has no imperfections to report and the sound is just fine.

The one downfall, if you can really call it that, for this release is the extras. There are four trailers for the feature, which is nice, and four trailers for other Japanese movies. Also, “Program notes” which is text screens talking about the movie, the books and such, including some great factoids about the culture of the village. Lastly there is a photo gallery, but its just images from the film, and nothing more interesting like behind the scene photos. This movie is more than 25 years old; a retrospective of some sort would have been nice, or footage from a film festival may have been fulfilling. Maybe even something about the writings the movie is based on or the original movie of the same name from the 1950s. Oh well, you can't have everything.

The Final Word:

An excellent film from beginning to end, and a really nice looking transfer make this DVD a winner. The lack of extras hurts the overall rating, but the movie alone is well worth the price and recommended for anyone who enjoys a sociological drama. Check it out!