There are many glorious, wonderful movies celebrating the courage, honor and spirit of the Japanese peasant in the face of overwhelming adversity. This is not one of them. Where to begin. Well, at the beginning, where we are treated to the bloated body of a dead child, left by its parents to rot in a rice paddy. This is followed by multiple variations on the same theme: patricide, matricide, and further infanticide. At least two innocent children are buried alive. Daughters are raised to be sold into slavery. There is a little self-mutilation. Add in some gleeful animal cruelty - beating a horse and bestiality with a dog, the latter intended as comic relief. The "wise" old matriarch of the central family intentionally, by trickery and without a shred of remorse, causes the murder of one son's pregnant "wife." This is a masterpiece? This depravity won the Palme d'Or? And don't tell me "You just don't understand." I understand it completely. I "get" it. One commenter states "See, feel, don't judge." Are you kidding me? I saw it and I felt ashamed. I will grant that the acting job by Ken Ogata as the eldest son was terrific. His was the only character with an iota of conscience. And yes, the mountains and the snow were beautiful during the main title sequence and at the conclusion. However, they amounted to nothing more than fancy bookends for two hours of inhumanity and cruelty. No thanks. Give me Messrs. Ozu and Mizoguchi. Please.
Review of The Ballad of Narayama
