296 reviews
Kanji Watanabe discovers that he has cancer, and tries to seek some sort of meaning in his final days, he becomes aware that he's operated as a cog in the giant domestic machinery, and fights against the system.
I've been working my way through The Kurosawa films, and thus far I've been impressed with the lot, I'll be honest, I expected a Samurai film, and when it became apparent that that wasn't the case either, I thought it may have been a mystery, it wasn't that either, instead it turned out to be a rather intimate, absorbing character study.
It shows that despite being essentially part of a machine, Kanji has a very human side, only he realises it too late.
This film moved me to tears on occasion, it had me laughing, it certainly had be captivated for the whole running time. That moment where Kanji explains what's happening to his son, it was phenomenal.
I am learning more about Kurosawa with each film I watch, but I must admit, this one threw me totally off guard, it wasn't what I was expecting, it further enhances my realisation that Kurosawa was a genius.
Remember all work and no play! There's a really meaningful message in this film.
9/10.
I've been working my way through The Kurosawa films, and thus far I've been impressed with the lot, I'll be honest, I expected a Samurai film, and when it became apparent that that wasn't the case either, I thought it may have been a mystery, it wasn't that either, instead it turned out to be a rather intimate, absorbing character study.
It shows that despite being essentially part of a machine, Kanji has a very human side, only he realises it too late.
This film moved me to tears on occasion, it had me laughing, it certainly had be captivated for the whole running time. That moment where Kanji explains what's happening to his son, it was phenomenal.
I am learning more about Kurosawa with each film I watch, but I must admit, this one threw me totally off guard, it wasn't what I was expecting, it further enhances my realisation that Kurosawa was a genius.
Remember all work and no play! There's a really meaningful message in this film.
9/10.
- Sleepin_Dragon
- Jun 14, 2023
- Permalink
I too have seen all the Samurai films. It was gratifying to watch this tender little film. How would we act if we knew when the end was coming? There are so many terrifying and tender moments in this film. The scenes with the young office mate went from charming to cold-- we knew there was no more than companionship, but she can't really even give him that anymore. The scene when he is about to tell his son about his condition and the young man goes off on a rant about how embarrassingly his father has been acting actually brought me to tears. Of course, it's the price he pays for his cold distance all those years. Then there's the whole bureaucratic nightmare of the office. Even at the wake they don't want to give credit. All the buck passers want a share of his legacy. Maybe families who are living on the edge should watch this movie. Even after more than 50 years, it wears extremely well.
Ikiru is a film about life. Constantly complex and thought-provoking, although simple at the same time; it tells a story about life's limits, how we perceive life and the fact that life is short and not to be wasted. Our hero is Kanji Watanabe, the most unlikely 'hero' of all time. He works in a dreary city office, where nothing happens and it's all very meaningless. Watanabe is particularly boring, which has lead to him being nicknamed 'The Mummy' by a fellow worker. He later learns that he is dying from stomach cancer and that he only has six months to live. But Watanabe has been dead for thirty years, and now that he's learned that his life has a limit; it's time for Watanabe to escape his dreary life and finally start living. What follows is probably the most thoughtful analysis of life ever filmed.
Ikiru marks a departure for Akira Kurosawa, a man better known for his samurai films, but it's a welcome departure in my opinion. Kurosawa constantly refers to Watanabe as 'our hero' throughout the film, and at first this struck me as rather odd because, as I've mentioned, he's probably the least likely hero that Kurosawa has ever directed; but that's just it! This man is not a superhero samurai, but rather an ordinary guy that decides he doesn't want to be useless anymore. That's why he's 'our hero'. Kurosawa makes us feel for the character every moment he's on screen - we're sorry that he's wasted his life, and we're sorry that his wasted life is about to be cruelly cut short. However, despite the bleak and miserable facade that this movie gives out, there is a distinct beauty about it that shines through. The beauty emits from the way that Watanabe tries to redeem his life; because we feel for him and are with him every step of the way, it's easy to see why Watanabe acts in the way he does. Ikiru is a psychologically beautiful film.
It could be said that the fantastic first hour and a half is let down by a more politically based final third - and this is true. The movie needs it's final third in order to finish telling the story, but it really doesn't work as well as the earlier parts did. However, Kurosawa still delights us with some brilliant imagery and the shot of Watanabe on a swing is the most poetically brilliant thing that Kurosawa ever filmed. Together with the music and the rest of the film that you've seen so far; that picture that Kurosawa gives us is as moving as it is brilliant.
Ikiru marks a departure for Akira Kurosawa, a man better known for his samurai films, but it's a welcome departure in my opinion. Kurosawa constantly refers to Watanabe as 'our hero' throughout the film, and at first this struck me as rather odd because, as I've mentioned, he's probably the least likely hero that Kurosawa has ever directed; but that's just it! This man is not a superhero samurai, but rather an ordinary guy that decides he doesn't want to be useless anymore. That's why he's 'our hero'. Kurosawa makes us feel for the character every moment he's on screen - we're sorry that he's wasted his life, and we're sorry that his wasted life is about to be cruelly cut short. However, despite the bleak and miserable facade that this movie gives out, there is a distinct beauty about it that shines through. The beauty emits from the way that Watanabe tries to redeem his life; because we feel for him and are with him every step of the way, it's easy to see why Watanabe acts in the way he does. Ikiru is a psychologically beautiful film.
It could be said that the fantastic first hour and a half is let down by a more politically based final third - and this is true. The movie needs it's final third in order to finish telling the story, but it really doesn't work as well as the earlier parts did. However, Kurosawa still delights us with some brilliant imagery and the shot of Watanabe on a swing is the most poetically brilliant thing that Kurosawa ever filmed. Together with the music and the rest of the film that you've seen so far; that picture that Kurosawa gives us is as moving as it is brilliant.
Ikiru ("to live")is a Kurosawa film devoid of samurai or Toshiro Mifune. It is an oddity in his canon, neither an adaptation, nor an epic, or even a detective story. Instead, it is the simple and touching story of the last months of the life of a man, Watanabbe, public official, who decides to give a meaning to his life by transcending the obtuse and stiff mind of government bureaucracy to get a small public children's park built. As a parable for the soulless workings of modern bureaucracy, the goal is set pretty high, and Kurosawa goes even further, giving this story a lot of character, frequent humor, life and, most of all, heart. And going beyond the strengths of the direction and script, is the central performance by Takashi Shimura (later Kambei in Seven Samurai). Shimura gives his character such a transparently good heart and such great pain that every second of Watanabe's plight and struggle tugs at your heart, not in an overwhelmingly sentimental manner, but in one than feels honest and pure. If even many hardened souls will be drawn to tears, it is not for pity, but, admirably, because of envy for Watanabe's beautiful human dignity in the end, and for a film to have such power is beyond pure accomplishment, as the need to see this and, more importantly, feel it, goes beyond pure necessity...
Probably one of the most difficult aspects a film like "Ikiru" has to overcome is the very rough march of time. To actually find someone these days, let's say a crowd of regular movie-goers to sit down and watch a film about an old Japanese man dying of cancer would be too much to ask.
Long held shots, hardly uplifting subject, to westerners very foreign. An array of reasons not to see it. And yet, once you actually start getting into the picture it doesn't let you go. Which is why it may be rightfully considered to be a classic.
Of all of Kurosawa's films this is probably the one movie that works perfectly on a universal level. Because at its core it is about one of the most basic desires of human existence...namely to be able to look back on your life and say "It was worth it."
In its starch and unforgiving black-and-white form the movie records the time of one man's life in such a beautiful and yes, colorful way, that by the time the final moments of the film play out, it will be very hard for anybody not to be touched. A glorious moment in 20th century cinema, that will hopefully be preserved for decades to come.
Long held shots, hardly uplifting subject, to westerners very foreign. An array of reasons not to see it. And yet, once you actually start getting into the picture it doesn't let you go. Which is why it may be rightfully considered to be a classic.
Of all of Kurosawa's films this is probably the one movie that works perfectly on a universal level. Because at its core it is about one of the most basic desires of human existence...namely to be able to look back on your life and say "It was worth it."
In its starch and unforgiving black-and-white form the movie records the time of one man's life in such a beautiful and yes, colorful way, that by the time the final moments of the film play out, it will be very hard for anybody not to be touched. A glorious moment in 20th century cinema, that will hopefully be preserved for decades to come.
- Serge_Zehnder
- Jun 10, 2004
- Permalink
I can safely say that I have seen no finer film than Kurosawa's true masterpiece, Ikiru. The story of a dying petty bureaucrat in 1950's Japan, Ikiru is as uncompromisingly honest and beautiful a film as has ever been made on the subject of life. Kurosawa elevates a story that could have been simple melodrama to the level of masterwork with a genuine love of his characters, and with an incredible technical direction. The film's structure accentuates and deepens its many, many lessons on life, and the performances, including a heartbreakingly earnest turn by Shimura are all flawless.
In short, Ikiru is easily one of the greatest works committed to film, and no discerning film aficionado should avoid experiencing it. Had Kurosawa directed only this film, it would still be enough to include him in the pantheon of the greatest storytellers who ever lived. Fortunately for us, it is simply the pinnacle of a staggeringly amazing career. It is the absolute definition of a 10/10 film.
In short, Ikiru is easily one of the greatest works committed to film, and no discerning film aficionado should avoid experiencing it. Had Kurosawa directed only this film, it would still be enough to include him in the pantheon of the greatest storytellers who ever lived. Fortunately for us, it is simply the pinnacle of a staggeringly amazing career. It is the absolute definition of a 10/10 film.
- will_butler
- Oct 20, 2002
- Permalink
This film touched me in a way no other film has. Filmed in black and white and gorgeous, both in the visuals and in how the story unfolds. Behold the clever manner of gradually unfolding the story as people jog each other's memories at his funeral (an obligation for them, that gradually turns into a real eulogy). Everything is told in flashbacks: the mourners' memories unfold naturally, as people remember what the man did and struggle to comprehend why.
This film I would nominate for the golden five of the century!
I first saw it in 1956 or so at a small theater in downtown Chicago. A second viewing, years later, confirmed my initial pleasure!
This film I would nominate for the golden five of the century!
I first saw it in 1956 or so at a small theater in downtown Chicago. A second viewing, years later, confirmed my initial pleasure!
Akira Kurosawa knew how to get in touch with human nature through his art. With his visual expressiveness and storytelling, he could pierce through his subjects, even in his big and occasionally comical samurai films, and find the elemental things do work. What he probably learned off of Rashomon probably helped out with Ikiru (To Live), a story of an old man who finds out he will die within a year, as both stories deal with perceptions of the significance of a life spent and a life wasted. Though that was to a different degree in Rashomon, with Ikiru Kurosawa expands into full-on existentialism.
The old man Kanji Watanabe (in a wholly believable and often heart-breaking performance by Takashi Shimura) knows his life hasn't amounted to much as a (chief) clerk for the city. He knows he hasn't had a great kinship with his son. He's accepting his fate with a heavy soul. One of the tenets of existentialism is that there's free-will, and the responsibility to accept what is done with one's life. Kurosawa might've (as I speculate, I don't entirely know) caught onto this for his lead, and it works, especially with the little details.
Such little details, unforgettable ones, have been expounded upon by other reviewers and critics, such as the drunken, sullen singing of "Life is short, fall in love my maiden" in the bar. A scene like that almost speaks for itself and yet it's also subtle. But one scene that had me was one not too many talk about. It's when Watanabe is in the Deputy Mayor's office, asking for permission so that a park can be built. At first the Mayor ignores him, but then Watanabe begs, but not in a way that manipulates the audience for sympathy with the old man. The mayor must be sensing something in his eyes, desperate and weak, however determined, and it's something that probably most of the audience can identify with as well, even if they don't entirely identify with the character.
But aside from the emotional impact Ikiru can have on a viewer, composition-wise (with the help of Asakazu Nakai, wonderful cinematographer on less than a dozen Kurosawa films) and editing-wise the film is ahead of its time and another example of Kurosawa's intuitive eye. There are some to-tomy shots sometimes (which could be called typical via master Ozu or other), but everything appears so precise on a first viewing, so descriptive. I think I almost can't go into all of them without a repeat viewing, but there were two that are still fresh in me. The first was right as Watanabe was about to sing in the bar, and there were these bead-strings looming in front of the camera. Perhaps mysterious, but definitely evocative.
The other was when Watanabe and one of the other clerks are on a bridge during a dark part of the day. Both characters are in silhouette, and Watanabe gives an indication to the character that he will die soon. But for me, I wasn't even paying a terrible amount of attention to the words. The way the two are lit as they are, with the light in the background and darkness in the foreground, it could maybe give an indication of what Kurosawa's trying to say: we're all not in the light of life, but it doesn't have to be an entire down-ward spiral if the will is good. Whether you're into philosophy (ies) or not, Ikiru won't disappoint newcomers to Kurosawa via his action pictures. A+
The old man Kanji Watanabe (in a wholly believable and often heart-breaking performance by Takashi Shimura) knows his life hasn't amounted to much as a (chief) clerk for the city. He knows he hasn't had a great kinship with his son. He's accepting his fate with a heavy soul. One of the tenets of existentialism is that there's free-will, and the responsibility to accept what is done with one's life. Kurosawa might've (as I speculate, I don't entirely know) caught onto this for his lead, and it works, especially with the little details.
Such little details, unforgettable ones, have been expounded upon by other reviewers and critics, such as the drunken, sullen singing of "Life is short, fall in love my maiden" in the bar. A scene like that almost speaks for itself and yet it's also subtle. But one scene that had me was one not too many talk about. It's when Watanabe is in the Deputy Mayor's office, asking for permission so that a park can be built. At first the Mayor ignores him, but then Watanabe begs, but not in a way that manipulates the audience for sympathy with the old man. The mayor must be sensing something in his eyes, desperate and weak, however determined, and it's something that probably most of the audience can identify with as well, even if they don't entirely identify with the character.
But aside from the emotional impact Ikiru can have on a viewer, composition-wise (with the help of Asakazu Nakai, wonderful cinematographer on less than a dozen Kurosawa films) and editing-wise the film is ahead of its time and another example of Kurosawa's intuitive eye. There are some to-tomy shots sometimes (which could be called typical via master Ozu or other), but everything appears so precise on a first viewing, so descriptive. I think I almost can't go into all of them without a repeat viewing, but there were two that are still fresh in me. The first was right as Watanabe was about to sing in the bar, and there were these bead-strings looming in front of the camera. Perhaps mysterious, but definitely evocative.
The other was when Watanabe and one of the other clerks are on a bridge during a dark part of the day. Both characters are in silhouette, and Watanabe gives an indication to the character that he will die soon. But for me, I wasn't even paying a terrible amount of attention to the words. The way the two are lit as they are, with the light in the background and darkness in the foreground, it could maybe give an indication of what Kurosawa's trying to say: we're all not in the light of life, but it doesn't have to be an entire down-ward spiral if the will is good. Whether you're into philosophy (ies) or not, Ikiru won't disappoint newcomers to Kurosawa via his action pictures. A+
- Quinoa1984
- May 18, 2004
- Permalink
Kanji Watanabi is a quiet, melancholy man who has spent all his life behind his office desk doing sweet eff-all. When he is diagnosed with stomach cancer he realizes that he has been petty much dead his whole life, and searches desperately for away to live again.
This is Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, yes, even better than Rashomon and The Seven Samauri. It is a perfect true story of everybody's life- how we don't even realize we have it until we know it will be over in a short while. Watanabi's quest for self-discovery is one of the greatest from any motion picture ever made. The all-too-true paradox is one to end all paradoxes- that Watanabi is dead, and had been all his life, until he realized he was sick, which is when he began living for the first time. Takashi Shimura, the actor best known for his role as the wise, bald-headed Samauri in The Seven Samauri, and the professor out of the early Godzilla films, plays Watanabi perfectly- in my mind, it's one of the greatest film performances of all time.
Not everyone will love this movie. It was made a long time ago, the main character is an old fogey, it has subtitles, and it's pretty long. Many people today, especially young kids, would find it boring. Well, let 'em. There's no need to worry about them, they'll always have Pirates of the Carribbean, they'll always have The Matrix. Leave Ikiru and films like it to the true lovers of cinema.
This is Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, yes, even better than Rashomon and The Seven Samauri. It is a perfect true story of everybody's life- how we don't even realize we have it until we know it will be over in a short while. Watanabi's quest for self-discovery is one of the greatest from any motion picture ever made. The all-too-true paradox is one to end all paradoxes- that Watanabi is dead, and had been all his life, until he realized he was sick, which is when he began living for the first time. Takashi Shimura, the actor best known for his role as the wise, bald-headed Samauri in The Seven Samauri, and the professor out of the early Godzilla films, plays Watanabi perfectly- in my mind, it's one of the greatest film performances of all time.
Not everyone will love this movie. It was made a long time ago, the main character is an old fogey, it has subtitles, and it's pretty long. Many people today, especially young kids, would find it boring. Well, let 'em. There's no need to worry about them, they'll always have Pirates of the Carribbean, they'll always have The Matrix. Leave Ikiru and films like it to the true lovers of cinema.
- Brave Sir Robin
- Dec 28, 2004
- Permalink
- PureCinema
- Dec 25, 1998
- Permalink
- Eternality
- Mar 20, 2011
- Permalink
Being one of the Founding Fathers of Cinema, Kurosawa shines to all directions. In his diverse oeuvre it is hard, if not impossible, to find a weak work.
Ikiru is the most humane film of this grand Humanist. Kurosawa's story telling skills are sublime, and he has surpassed himself with this movie.
The slow pace and ditto camera movements (except in the night with 'Mephistofeles' where all is logically much more frantic) enhances the story superbly. What a pity some of the nowadays public can't find the tranquility and maybe serenity to watch a gorgeous film like that. That part of the movie lovers will miss a brilliant film, that would have lingered in the mind forever...
Ikiru is the most humane film of this grand Humanist. Kurosawa's story telling skills are sublime, and he has surpassed himself with this movie.
The slow pace and ditto camera movements (except in the night with 'Mephistofeles' where all is logically much more frantic) enhances the story superbly. What a pity some of the nowadays public can't find the tranquility and maybe serenity to watch a gorgeous film like that. That part of the movie lovers will miss a brilliant film, that would have lingered in the mind forever...
A dying man tries to seize what's left of his life. The pacing is lethargic throughout, but the film practically comes to a halt during the wake scene of the last hour. After the central character dies, it drags on for nearly an hour. As is usually the case with Kurosawa, he has his cast engage in theatrical acting. Perpetually wide-eyed and depressed, Shimura mumbles his lines while barely opening his mouth or moving his lips. It's a one-dimensional performance that saps the film of whatever potential it had. On the other hand, Odagiri is charming as a young lady who's everything Shimura is not: good-humored and spirited, enjoying life to the fullest.
"Ikiru" is supposedly one of Steven Spielberg's favourite films, and one can see the influence it's had on him not only in the sentimentality and the ultimate "feelgood factor" (which may be a little too extreme for some viewers, although the script never condescends), but visually, especially in the virtuoso sequence in which a reprobate leads our hero, a respectable and dull civil servant, on a whirlwind tour of Tokyo's frenzied nightlife - a masterpiece of camera placement and editing. With images throughout that will stay with you for a long time, and a terrific supporting performance by Miki Odagiri as a vivacious young "office lady", "Ikiru" is still an absolute knockout more than 50 years on.
- Butch-Higgins
- Oct 15, 2003
- Permalink
- bretttaylor-04022
- May 16, 2022
- Permalink
Kanji Watanabe is a civil servant. He has worked in the same department for 30 years. His life is pretty boring and monotonous, though he once used to have passion and drive. Then one day he discovers that he has stomach cancer and has less than a year to live. After the initial depression he sets about living for the first time in over 20 years. Then he realises that his limited time left is not just for living life to the full but to leave something meaningful behind...
Written and directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa, this is his magnum opus. Yes, Seven Samurai, Rashomon or Yojimbo might be more popular or more critically acclaimed but this, for me, is his greatest work.
Incredibly profound and thought-provoking, examining life and living it plus death and what you leave behind. Also takes a dig at politicians and the wastefulness of the civil service.
Very engaging too: characters are well-formed and develop throughout the movie. Moreover we empathise with Watanabe and his issues, issues which are relatable.
Highly emotional towards the end too, as we see the impact he has made.
A timeless classic.
Written and directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa, this is his magnum opus. Yes, Seven Samurai, Rashomon or Yojimbo might be more popular or more critically acclaimed but this, for me, is his greatest work.
Incredibly profound and thought-provoking, examining life and living it plus death and what you leave behind. Also takes a dig at politicians and the wastefulness of the civil service.
Very engaging too: characters are well-formed and develop throughout the movie. Moreover we empathise with Watanabe and his issues, issues which are relatable.
Highly emotional towards the end too, as we see the impact he has made.
A timeless classic.
As a great fan of Akira Kurasawa, Ikiru is not just Kurasawa's most moving film it is one of his very finest alongside Seven Samurai and Ran. It is as always beautifully made, sumptuous in look and the cinematography simple yet interesting. Kurasawa's direction is at its most delicate, making a story that could easily be mawkish and manipulative into a genuinely moving, powerful and quite inspiring one instead, and making us also care every step of the way for the dignified central character of Watanabe. Together with a hypnotic score, a thought-provoking script and a powerful, yet in a discreet and heart-wrenching way, lead performance from Takeshi Shimura, and you have a fantastic film.
Overall, I can't praise Ikiru enough. Any complaints of how the final third is not as good as the rest of the movie is valid but I didn't care so much after being moved and inspired so much by the film. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Overall, I can't praise Ikiru enough. Any complaints of how the final third is not as good as the rest of the movie is valid but I didn't care so much after being moved and inspired so much by the film. 10/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jun 16, 2012
- Permalink
- lee_eisenberg
- Feb 1, 2017
- Permalink
- danstephan3000
- Sep 13, 2004
- Permalink
- sgoldgaber
- Jan 12, 2003
- Permalink
There are good, very good, and even great movies. But among them there are just a few that go beyond great. They belong to the league of their own. Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru" (To Live), 1952, is one of them. The film of rare humanity, profoundly moving and often funny "Ikiru" tells the story of a dying man's last crusade that turned out to be his triumph, the best thing he had ever done in his life; something he will be remembered for. The film reveals both absurdity of life and the ability of man to find meaning in it through selfless action.
Two years before he played the tough lead in "Seven Samurai", Takashi Shimara gave even finer performance in a very different role as a government bureaucrat Kanji Watanabe who seemed to lead a life of quiet desperation at his job and at home. Then, he learns that he has terminal cancer and faced with the fact of death, he first tries to take from life as much as possible and spends the half of his savings on gambling, drinking and women. It leads him nowhere and gradually he determines to achieve one good thing before he dies, and settles on converting a junkyard into a playground for children. Rather than make a feel good movie with co-workers helping Kanji Watanabe in his quest and his family around him at his last moment, Kurosawa portrays him as a lonely crusader. No one can understand why this park is so important to him. The answer is very simple, he does not have time and he wants to live to see the park open. His family and co-workers don't even know how ill he is, and that makes some scenes even more powerful and poignant. His words, "I am not angry with anyone, I have no time for that", the look at his face when asked by a mafia member if he did not care for his life - these scenes are heartbreaking. The film has many quiet but compelling moments like these.
For me, watching "Ikiru" was as close to earth shattering experience as it goes. I think it is one of very few films that could really change one's life. I could not help comparing it to "Cries and Whispers" - how devastated I was by the theme of inevitable death, how ugly it is, and how helpless we all are while facing it. "Ikiru" is about a dying man, too, but how hopeful and life affirming it is. The film did not tell or teach me something I had not known before but it confirmed once more that it is never too late to do something even if you have only few months to live.
Two years before he played the tough lead in "Seven Samurai", Takashi Shimara gave even finer performance in a very different role as a government bureaucrat Kanji Watanabe who seemed to lead a life of quiet desperation at his job and at home. Then, he learns that he has terminal cancer and faced with the fact of death, he first tries to take from life as much as possible and spends the half of his savings on gambling, drinking and women. It leads him nowhere and gradually he determines to achieve one good thing before he dies, and settles on converting a junkyard into a playground for children. Rather than make a feel good movie with co-workers helping Kanji Watanabe in his quest and his family around him at his last moment, Kurosawa portrays him as a lonely crusader. No one can understand why this park is so important to him. The answer is very simple, he does not have time and he wants to live to see the park open. His family and co-workers don't even know how ill he is, and that makes some scenes even more powerful and poignant. His words, "I am not angry with anyone, I have no time for that", the look at his face when asked by a mafia member if he did not care for his life - these scenes are heartbreaking. The film has many quiet but compelling moments like these.
For me, watching "Ikiru" was as close to earth shattering experience as it goes. I think it is one of very few films that could really change one's life. I could not help comparing it to "Cries and Whispers" - how devastated I was by the theme of inevitable death, how ugly it is, and how helpless we all are while facing it. "Ikiru" is about a dying man, too, but how hopeful and life affirming it is. The film did not tell or teach me something I had not known before but it confirmed once more that it is never too late to do something even if you have only few months to live.
- Galina_movie_fan
- Sep 6, 2005
- Permalink
A film about a society, not about one man.
The protagonist is an inarticulate, voiceless wreck who tries to salvage 30 years of wasted time with one good deed. Good deeds are not permitted. A well-crafted vehicle for a typical existentialist "art" film, but nothing to write home about.
- jackmathys
- Nov 16, 2018
- Permalink
This 1952 film by Akira Kurosawa, about a civil servant learning he has terminal stomach cancer, and trying to do something socially meaningful in the last months of his life to redeem his boring and uneventful life, has become a bit overrated. Some people has even called this film a masterpiece. The material is certainly moving, but the movie is stilted and static, the performance of the main actor is of one note, and the dialogue explains often what is obvious to the viewer. Realistic movies were not Kurosawa's forte. One cannot help but notice that at about the same time Ikiru came out such directors as Ozu and Naruse were making much stronger, fluid and unmawkish movies dealing with the everyday life in postwar Japan.