\'Ballad\' deserving of Palme d\'Or

This extraordinary work of cinematic art nabbed the Palme d'Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival and rightly so. Based off a 1958 Japanese film of the same name, this work weaves a glorious tapestry about a remote village where the old, when they reach 70, are taken to an adjacent mountain to die. A woman approaching this age accepts her fate, while her son struggles with its reality.

The Ballad of Narayama - R Starring: City Lights Film Series Directed by: Shohei Imamura Playing: 7:30 p.m. Friday in Ballantine 013

Director Shohei Imamura ("Black Rain") projects richly textured countryside canvases on the screen to complement nature's grand role in "The Ballad of Narayama," with nature's infinite recycling properties often being juxtaposed with the impermanence of man. Gorgeous, profound and wholly moving, "The Ballad of Narayama" is one of the great contemporary masterpieces of Japanese cinema.