Fences is a film about how our environment shapes us, and how, no matter how noble their intentions, our parents can’t help but mess us Abundantly talented writer/director Maren Ade fully embraces the inherent awkwardness of a testy emotional bond and tackles it to the ground. “The Ballad of Narayama” is a Japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty.