Ikiru

( 15 )

Overview

Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru details the existential struggle of one ordinary man in his desperate search for purpose. Upon learning he has terminal stomach cancer, a low-level government bureaucrat Takashi Shimura leaves his job of thirty years without a word to find meaning in the year he has left to live. He is completely alone in the world -- his wife is dead, his son is practically estranged, and his co-workers the people with whom he has more contact than any others are little more than strangers. Rather than ...
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Overview

Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru details the existential struggle of one ordinary man in his desperate search for purpose. Upon learning he has terminal stomach cancer, a low-level government bureaucrat Takashi Shimura leaves his job of thirty years without a word to find meaning in the year he has left to live. He is completely alone in the world -- his wife is dead, his son is practically estranged, and his co-workers the people with whom he has more contact than any others are little more than strangers. Rather than face a death alone in pathos, Shimura opts to make up for lost time by going to the bar for the first time in his life, spending every last yen in his wallet and drinking himself to death. There he meets a black-clad artist a Mephistopheles to his Faust who leads him on a hellish and darkly humorous tour of the city after dark as the two crawl through every booze-soaked juke-joint in town Kurosawa's classical training as a painter surfaces in this sequence; many critics have noted the striking similarity of the crowded dance hall scenes to the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch, particularly Walpurgis Night. Realizing he has missed nothing, Shimura then sets his sight on a pretty young girl from the office to divert his attention from his looming mortality. Although the girl fails to serve as a lifebuoy, she does give him the inspiration to do something meaningful -- to leave a legacy, however small, that makes the world a better place. A synopsis of Ikiru cannot serve the film justice; it simply must be seen.
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Jonathan Crow
This contemporary drama from Akira Kurosawa, better known for such sweeping samurai epics as The Seven Samurai (1954), is arguably his best film and the most articulate vision of his existential philosophy. The film's protagonist seems to spring directly from the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre or Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych: a tragic, pathetic figure who has so immersed himself in daily routine that he never learned to live. Only when confronted with his own imminent demise does he give his live meaning by building a playground over an open sewer in an impoverished section of town. The film is structured in a peculiar bifurcated arrangement: it begins as a straightforward plot that, halfway through, shifts into a fragmented narrative recounted in flashbacks by mourners at Watanabe's funeral. In the second half, we witness Watanabe's dogged struggle through the lenses of his baffled co-workers' own unexamined lives. Initially viewing his efforts with suspicion if not contempt, his workers fail to give Watanabe any credit for his single-handed effort to build the park. This section of Ikiru becomes compelling and ironic thanks to Kurosawa's deft depiction of Watanabe's inner state in the first half. Ikiru opens with an X-ray of Watanabe-a literal manifestation of his interior world. The rest of the section, through a tour-de-force of impressionistic and expressionistic cinematic devices, shows Watanabe's slow awakening from his quarter-century stupor to learn what it is to live. Takeshi Shimura delivers a staggering performance as Watanabe; his large pleading eyes and hangdog face burn a haunting image in the viewer's mind long after the film ends. The emotional force of Ikiru leaves the viewer feeling both transformed by Watanabe's evolution and contemplative about one's own life.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 6/6/2000
  • UPC: 037429067437
  • Original Release: 1952

    • Rating:

  • Source: Homevision
  • Format: VHS

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Takashi Shimura Kanji Watanabe
Nobuo Kaneko Mitsuo Watanabe
Kyoko Seki Kazue Watanabe
Miki Odagiri Toyo Odagiri
Makoto Kobori Kiighi Watanabe
Yunosuke Ito Novelist
Kasuo Abe City Assemblyman
Minoru Chiaki Noguchi
Ichiro Chiba Policeman
Kamatari Fujiwara Ono, Office under-chief
Bokuzen Hidari Ohara
Fumiko Homma Housewife
Daisuke Kato Gang Member
Ko (Isao) Kimura Intern
Yoshie Minami Hayoshi, the Maid
Seiji Miyaguchi Gang Boss
Eiko Miyoshi Housewife
Fuyuki Murakami Newspaperman
Nobuo Nakamura Deputy Mayor
Toranosuke Ogawa Park Section Chief
Saito Subordinate Clerk
Sakai Assistant
Masao Shimizu Doctor
Kin Sugai Housewife
Haruo Tanaka Sakai
Kumeko Urabe Tatsu Watanabe
Atsushi Watanabe Patient
Minosuke Yamada Saito
Technical Credits
Akira Kurosawa Director, Screenwriter
Shinobu Hashimoto Screenwriter
Fumio Hayasaka Score Composer
So Matsuyama Art Director
Shojiro Motoki Producer
Shinobu Muraki Production Designer
Yoshiro Muraki Production Designer
Asakazu Nakai Cinematographer
Hideo Oguni Screenwriter
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 15 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(13)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(1)

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Sort by: Showing all of 15 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 8, 2010

    This "art" movie is also great for general audiences

    Why great for the general audience? Lots of breathing space in conversations that allow the viewer to look up from the subtitles and at the faces of the actors. This somewhat up lifting story, is well filmed with lots of great shots that add to the meaning of the story.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Masterfully Performed and Directed!

    This movie is breath-taking. Akira Kurosawa is a true mastermind. I feel that I am a better person for having watched this.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Awesome!

    Watch this film to see a true masterpiece. This is a brillant film and very moving. Akira Kurosawa was a genius...

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 14, 2003

    This movie makes me glad to be alive.

    The ending of Ikiru is one of the most cathartic and life-affirming moments you'll ever witness in film. Takashi Shimura is absolutely brilliant in the leading role. (Caution: If you have an absolutely jaded and cynical view of life, lost all hope for humanity, and live to only serve yourself then you will not like this film. But you should watch it anyway.)

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    This is one of the greatest films ever made

    Words cannot do this film justice. Just buy the film.

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    Posted September 29, 2009

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    Posted July 26, 2010

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    Posted July 28, 2009

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Sort by: Showing all of 15 Customer Reviews