# The Ballad of Narayama (1958)

> A theatrical Japanese mountain fable turns an elder’s enforced death into a devastating meditation on family love, hunger, and communal duty.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/movie/76929

## Facts

- Runtime: 98 min
- Genres: Drama
- Director: Keisuke Kinoshita
- Cast: Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yūko Mochizuki, Seiji Miyaguchi, Yūnosuke Itō, Ken Mitsuda, Danko Ichikawa, Keiko Ogasawara
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051980/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Mood: austere, mournful, unsettling, serious film study, classic cinema viewing

## Synopsis

A poignant exploration of family bonds and the acceptance of mortality in a harsh world.

## Movies like The Ballad of Narayama

- [Tokyo Twilight (1957)](https://ember.film/movie/37733)
- [The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)](https://ember.film/movie/30551)
- [Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)](https://ember.film/movie/61091)
- [Late Spring (1949)](https://ember.film/movie/12380)
- [I Live in Fear (1955)](https://ember.film/movie/12917)
- [Ugetsu (1953)](https://ember.film/movie/8728)
- [Tokyo Story (1953)](https://ember.film/movie/10905)
- [Black Rain (1989)](https://ember.film/movie/109464)
- [The Naked Island (1960)](https://ember.film/movie/2307)
- [Harakiri (1962)](https://ember.film/movie/8600)

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