Ikiru - Akira Kurosawa

Like a lot of people, my first exposure to a Kurosawa film was Seven Samurai. It was an interesting mix of action, and social commentary, and the more I researched it, the more I realized its impact on film in America and elsewhere. However, I recently sat down and watched Ikiru, and that is now by far my favorite Kurosawa film out of all of those that I've seen.

The movie follows an older bureaucrat / widower, Kanji Watanabe, who has spent the last thirty years working for the government, when he is suddenly diagnosed with stomach cancer. This causes him to seriously re-evaluate his life. First he looks at his job and realizes that he wasn't so much working as he was acting like a machine rubber-stamping paperwork, or sending it to different departments. At one point Watanabe says, "I can't remember a single thing that I've done" when looking back on his job. His job was his life, but he was never really living, and this comes back to the film's title, "Ikiru" which is Japanese for "to live". Watanabe comes to the conclusion that he never really lived, and that before he dies he must now do his best to live life to the fullest.

From here he does everything from going for a night on the town with a carefree novelist, to spending time with a young female, to what would be his final, and greatest achievement: building a new park for a local community.

Following Watanabe on his quest to live is truly inspiring. He really tries to change the way he goes about things now that he knows he will die. Seeing his dogged persistence to get that park built as he gradually becomes weaker is bittersweet. Most interesting is when his co-workers realize that Watanabe knew he was dying but persevered to finish the park, then swearing to live more like he did, but ultimately failing. It showed just how difficult change can truly be. The story is such that it's difficult not to want to re-evaluate one's own life after watching Ikiru.

Takashi Shimura deserves a lot of praise for his portrayal of Watanabe. He really sold the roll throw body language, facial expression, and the way he spoke. There's this mix of sadness, and yearning to make things right in his performance that is very special. One scene in the movie where he sings an old song called Gondola no Uta about how precious youth is that is absolutely moving. Shimura did an amazing job in this role.

A lot of westerners mostly know Kurosawa for his samurai movies, but it is well worth delving in to the rest of his work. Ikiru is one such movie that should be a must-see for everyone.