Review of Ikiru (1952) by Aditya M — 02 Aug 2013

This is what a master can do with a trite subject. The man who discovers he is dying and tries to find meaning in his life seems like the most tried of concepts, but the legendary Akira Kurosawa infuses it with depth and gravity.

A clever, back-and-forth screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto holds our interest throughout even though we know at the very beginning of the movie how it is going to end. The movie is well-acted too - the great Takashi Shimura, only 47 when he made this film, plays the part of an elderly, desperate man to perfection, and is supported by an extremely able cast. As my eyes drifted across the screen during some long scenes, it struck me how even peripheral character actors on the edge of the shot were reacting perfectly to what was happening.

'Ikiru', which apparently translates to "To Live", is not just an examination of life - but also often a satire on society and human nature. Roger Ebert described it best in his review: "The scenes of his efforts do not come in chronological order, but as flashbacks from his funeral service. Watanabe's family and associates gather to remember him, drinking too much and finally talking too much, trying to unravel the mystery of his death and the behavior that led up to it. And here we see the real heart of the movie, in the way one man's effort to do the right thing can inspire, or confuse, or anger, or frustrate, those who see it only from the outside, through the lens of their own unexamined lives.".