This is the second film I can recall seeing which feels caught between a film and a staged play (the first one is Olivier's "Henry V"). Given the reactions I've seen from some of my Letterboxd followers, not everyone will click with its incorporation of Kubuki theater, but I was very much on board with it. Given the narrative and the kinds of themes it covers (mortality and the questionable treatment of the elderly villagers), this could've easily fallen into schmaltziness or misery, but the visual abstraction of its style prevents it from dipping into those territories. Putting aside the artificial sets and the obvious handmade backdrops, probably the most divisive element of it is the voice over singing as I've seen plenty argue it grew tiring fairly quickly. That said, I found it to be the most unique element of the film. In spite of the dialogue describing what normally would've been emotionally blunt minutiae and character asides, I rarely got the sense it was trying to manipulate my emotions. In the context of the visual style, it fit very well in the film and helped the story find the right balance between alienating you from the proceedings and properly conveying the inner thoughts of the characters and the customs of the village really well. In spite of what I said though, the final act still managed to devastate me. It's hard to watch it without being moved in some way. The remake is pretty good and might click with people who couldn't get into the style of this film, but I prefer this one by a decent margin.
Review of The Ballad of Narayama
