Review of Ikiru (1952) by Greg D — 26 Feb 2012

One of Kurosawa's finest films explores the true meaning of life, and what it is to truely live. Takashi Shimura gives a wonderful performance as our tragic protagonist, Kanji Watanabe, a Japanese bureaucrat who discovers that he has stomach cancer and must come to grips with his short time left on this earth.

"How tragic that man can never realize how beautiful life is until he is face to face with death" a saying by a novelist early in the film pretty much exemplifies this film. A true masterpiece of cinema.