Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yuko Mochizuki, Danko Ichikawa, Seiji Miyaguchi. Based on the novel by Shichiro Fukazawa. Originally released as a motion picture in 1958. Digitally restored version, done by Shochiku Co. ; under license from Janus Films. Blu-ray disc release date: Feb. 5, 2013. Booklet ([17] p. ; col. ill.) in English with an essay by Philip Kemp inserted in container. Special features include: new 2K digital master from the 2011 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition; new English subtitle translation; booklet with essay by Philip Kemp; trailer and teaser.
Summary:
This haunting, kabuki-inflected version of a Japanese folk legend is set in a remote mountain village, where food is scarce and tradition dictates that citizens who have reached their seventieth year must be carried to the summit of Mount Narayama and left there to die. The sacrificial elder at the center of the tale is Orin, a dignified and dutiful woman who spends her dwindling days securing the happiness of her loyal widowed son with a respectable new wife.
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