Review of Ikiru (1952) by Alex S — 10 Mar 2009

I think there might be something wrong with me because I was not nearly as moved as viewers are apparently supposed to be when they watch this "life-affirming classic." I'm not saying this is a bad movie- far from it.

But it also did not make me question how I have never lived once in my life and the only way to gauge a sense of accomplishment and recognition would be to build a community playground before stomach cancer rears its ugly head.

That's exactly what our protagonist Watanabe finds himself faced with, along with an unappreciative son (his wife is quite a charmer...), a former co-worker who loves to eat (she's not huge or anything but she spends almost the entire movie eating it seems) and a drunk writer who definitely knows how to have a good time (though he loses points as the co-worker takes Watanabe to a parlor where "The March of the Wooden Soldiers" is playing in the background, which all cool people recognize as an awesome song).

It's a simple film except not really. We get Watanabe's life in blunt reality and then we get his funeral for 30 minutes at the end wherein his attendees question if they knew the "real him" before settling back down for the banality that is their lives.

Parts drag here and there (our writer friend is an odd duck, that's for sure) and no one is going to accuse this of being a "feel good" film but the overall product is pure gold that asks you to question your own life.

I did, and it does not involve playground equipment, as far as I could tell.