The Ballad of Narayama
“Only Time Could Change the Cruelty of Tradition… Only Their Love Could Survive It…”
Shohei ImamuraCast
Ken Ogata 
Sumiko Sakamoto Takejo Aki
Credits
Written by: Shōhei Imamura
Plot
In a poor mountain village in nineteenth-century Japan, the custom is that once people reach seventy they must be carried to the top of Mount Narayama to die. Orin, a healthy and cheerful old woman, is determined to go and arranges things for her family before the journey, which her eldest son must make. Shohei Imamura's 1983 film, which blends the brutal facts of life in a village with a spiritual calm, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
Sinekatalog’s take
Shohei Imamura's Palme d'Or winner follows a village's custom of leaving the old to die. Earthy and harsh yet deeply tender, with Sumiko Sakamoto superb, it blends cruelty and beauty with great power.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 7.8 / 10 (10,127 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
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