BALLAD OF NARAYAMA, THE

English Title: BALLAD OF NARAYAMA, THE

Shohei Imamura has been a filmmaker for more than 25 years, founder of his own production company in 1964, TV documentary maker and world traveler. THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA parallels human society with animals and the physical landscapes in intensely realistic images of teeming life. Survival is the uppermost rule in the village of Narayama and their means to that end seems unusually harsh to us, yet in some ways our society's treatment of the old, for example, is more inhumane than ancient Japan's primitive laws. Considered no longer of use at age 70, the old are taken to the mountaintop to die of starvation and exposure. Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto) is 69 and spends her last year passing on knowledge and skills to her children, solving problems and awaiting her fate with serenity. The silent mountain climb is profoundly moving, culminating in a snowfall that promises Orin a quick death. A mass of weathered skeletons and circling black crows at the mountaintop presents a shattering image that truly makes you gasp at its cruel beauty – typical of Imamura's enlightening depiction of all things struggling to survive throughout changing seasons and constant hardship. THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA bristles with humor, exuberant sexuality and instinctive violence tempered by a reverence for the true meaning of life. “THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA is an authentic masterpiece.” -Cahiers du Cinema -USA Premiere-