Ballad of Narayama, The

Aroview: Sombre but stylised retelling of a Japanese legend, about a poverty-stricken village and its eldest resident who, in accordance with tradition, must ascend to the top of a mountain on her 70th birthday to die.

Configured to Kabuki theatre specifications, this uses exaggerated lighting and elaborate soundstage setups to striking effect (think KWAIDAN), while is presided over throughout by the haunting wails of a ‘jyruri’ narrator. THE LIFE OF OHARU’s Tanaka plays the film’s elderly discard in a moving portrayal of sacrifice, stoicism and austerity through hardship. A 1983 adaptation by Shohei Imamura of the same story won the Palm D'Or.