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The Ballad of Narayama

The Ballad of Narayama

Drama

1h 38m

June 1, 1958 (67 years ago)

Overview

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?

ActorAge thenAge now
Kinuyo Tanaka

Kinuyo Tanaka

Orin

Birthday: November 28, 1909

48 March 21, 1977 (67)
Teiji Takahashi

Teiji Takahashi

Tatsuhei

Birthday: October 20, 1926

31 November 3, 1959 (33)
Yūko Mochizuki

Yūko Mochizuki

Tamayan

Birthday: January 28, 1917

41 December 1, 1977 (60)
Seiji Miyaguchi

Seiji Miyaguchi

Matayan

Birthday: November 14, 1913

44 April 12, 1985 (71)
Yūnosuke Itō

Yūnosuke Itō

Matayan's son

Birthday: August 3, 1919

38 March 11, 1980 (60)
Ken Mitsuda

Ken Mitsuda

Teruyan

Birthday: April 29, 1902

56 November 28, 1997 (95)
Danko Ichikawa

Danko Ichikawa

Kesakichi

Birthday: -

--
Keiko Ogasawara

Keiko Ogasawara

Matsu-yan

Birthday: -

--
Eijirō Tōno

Eijirō Tōno

Messenger

Birthday: September 17, 1907

50 September 8, 1994 (86)