In a time not long past, the first law was . . . The Old Must Die . . .

From two-time Palme d'Or-winning director Shohei Imamura (Pigs and Battleships, The Insect Woman) comes an unforgettable human drama and a milestone in Japanese Cinema. The Ballad of Narayama is a brutal and haunting meditation on the nature of life, sex and death. Over 100 years ago in a small village in a remote valley, everyone who reaches the age of 70 is banished to the top of a mountain to die. Old Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto: The Pornographers) has her family's affairs to take care of before she too must go. Orin seeks a new wife for her widowed eldest son Tatsuhei (Ken Ogata: Mishima, The Pillow Book), she tries to help her runtish second son lose his virginity and to take her brattish eldest grandson - who cavorts with the young women of the village - down several pegs. When it comes time for Orin to depart, tradition demands that Tatsuhei carry her up the mountain on his back in silence. With exquisite cinematography and captivating performances, this universally acclaimed masterpiece is confronting, erotic and awe-inspiring.