The Ballad of Narayama

Director: Shohei Imamura

AnimEigo

Human drama.

Japanese with clear English subtitles

R1 DVD

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

In a little village high in the mountains of Japan, there has been a law for many years – when a person reaches 70 years old, they must “go to the mountain”. They will be carried to the top of nearby Mount Narayama and left to die of exposure. This is a necessary survival move in a village which can barely support its population, and must sometimes leave boy babies out to die of exposure. Girls can at least be sold off. The village simply can’t afford to support its elderly through the bitter winters, when the whole village faces starvation if there is a bad harvest. This year it is Grandma Orin’s time, but before she goes to the mountain there are some things she must do.

Her eldest son Tatsuhei must be found a new wife. He is lonely since his old wife died, so Orin arranges a new wife for him from a neighbouring village. There is something vaguely wrong about the woman – they are not sure if she left the village voluntarily or was kicked out. In spite of this, Grandma Orin teaches her all she can about keeping the house going and feeding the family. The woman gradually earns her trust and Orin passes on her secrets about how to make the most out of their life.

Her son also has a dark secret. He confesses to Orin that long ago while on a hunting trip he shot his drunken, womanizing father and buried the body. Orin had put up with her husband’s habits to avoid bringing shame on the family, and she does not seem unduly disturbed by the information about his death. She puts her son’s mind at rest.

There is trouble brewing in the village. The potato harvest is very small this year and some villagers are on the verge of starvation. The Ayama family is suspected of stealing food, and Orin quietly stirs up the villagers so they raid the house one night. Plenty of food is found, and it is obvious that the Ayamas have been digging young potatoes from the village fields then hiding them away. The whole Ayama family is beaten and buried alive, including the children and the girlfriend of one of Orin’s sons. Their food is shared out and it will let the village barely survive for another winter.

Another son, nicknamed Stinker by the village because of his unfortunate hygiene, is suffering from virginity and the lack of a wife. He is one of the Yakka, the unmarried men, and is becoming troublesome. He is reduced to taking his pleasure with a neighbour’s female dog and is a source of embarrassment to his family. He is becoming a troublemaker in the village. Orin arranges for a youngish local widow to satisfy him for one night. The results are rather surprising.

Finally Grandma Orin decides that, with winter approaching fast, it is time for her to go up the mountain. She will follow the village tradition, since it is for the survival of her family. Not everyone goes peacefully to the mountain, but with her work done she is satisfied. After a long and dangerous trip, Tatsuhei leaves her praying peacefully. On the way down the mountain it starts to snow. This symbolically shows the favour of the God of the Mountain to this tough old woman and will give her a painless death through hypothermia.

It seems a brutal existence, and a brutal film about it, but after a while you can’t help but see the necessity for such traditions. Life must go on, but as the village grows it can’t support the extra mouths to feed. The sacrifice of the elderly to make food available for the young is the only way the village can survive. Shohei Imamura doesn’t make judgments about this, he just presents the village traditions as they are and lets us decide for ourselves. It is hard not to have respect for Grandma Orin and her acceptance of the old harsh traditions.

The film is brilliantly acted. It has won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival as well as a number of other awards. The awards were well deserved. In the 1984 Japanese Academy Awards Ken Ogata won Best Actor for his role as Tatsuhei, although I particularly liked the actor who played Risuke (Stinker). There are sex scenes and nudity, but these are all just part of the earthy existence of these people. For a story about survival in a difficult environment, this is one of the best I have seen.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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