The Ballad of Narayama is a Japanese film, directed by Shohei Imamura, based on a book of the same name by Shichiro Fukazawa. It tells the story of a small village in Japan, where tradition dictates that every person who reaches the age of 70 must journey to the top of a nearby mountain to die, as they are considered no longer useful to their community.
The protagonist of the movie is Orin, a 69-year-old woman who is preparing for her journey to the mountain. Before she can go, however, she must fulfill her duty to her family by finding a wife for her son Tatsuhei. Tatsuhei is a good-natured man, but he is also lazy and lacks the ambition to find a wife on his own.
Orin spends her last days on earth helping her son in his quest, even going so far as to use her own death as a bargaining chip to convince a woman to marry him. The film is a vivid portrait of life in a small village in Japan, and it explores themes of family, duty, and tradition. It is a beautiful and moving film, but also a challenging one, as it forces its viewers to confront difficult questions about mortality, sacrifice, and the meaning of life.
