japan, 1958, japaneseI have to say, I’m not a fan of sending senior citizens to a mountain top to die of exposure. I guess I’m just weird like that.
KEISUKE KINOSHITA
The Ballad of Narayama
There is something so interesting about expectations. I don’t talk about the collecting aspect of this journey that often, but I own the first thousand or so of these films on physical media. This one was one of the first I bought, its lack of supplements meaning that it was relatively cheaply found. I bought it ten years ago and then... just never watched it. I would read the description and then pick something else.
Over time this gave the film kind of a weird form of power over me. I was a bit scared to actually watch it. It had become something that worried me. I’m not trying to be melodramatic here. These were very minor feelings. But still, I had a bit of a mental block towards actually sitting down with this film. But, as ever, I should have learned by now not to pay much attention to the back of the box.
I loved this. Honestly it’s not really that surprising, given actual thought. The film was made by Keisuke Kinoshita, who also directed the films in one of my favorite Eclipse boxes. That alone was probably the best piece of actual information of all. But, also, I had no idea that this was such a fascinating experiment in staging and filmmaking style.
This is, essentially, a kabuki play filmed for the screen. But it doesn’t shy away from that, nor does it lean too far in. Virtually the entire thing was shot on a soundstage, and you can definitely tell. But that’s because the controlled environment is used for dramatic effect. Night and day are just lights. The backdrop sometimes falls away to indicate a location change. It could feel cheap, but it doesn’t. It feels purposeful and beautiful.
This is also the second film in a row that I’ve watched that is just so tense. In both cases it’s kind of for a similar reason. It’s the inevitability of what’s happening. In this case the fact that the grandmother will go to Narayama. Everything else is just waiting around for that moment. It’s powerful and hard to watch at times. I can’t believe I waited this long to see it. But then maybe I wasn’t ready until just now.