Review of Ikiru (1952) by Kyle F — 05 Oct 2008

Akira Kurosawa once again proves his directing genius in this tale of a man's quest to find what it means to truly live. The film follows a man named Kanji Watanabe, a section cheif for the office of public affairs, who realizes that he has spent his entire life doing nothing of significance after he is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The acting and direction of this film, like most of Kurosawa's, are phenomenal. It is amazing to me how much depth he is able to add to his characters even in moments of silence. The facial expressions of Takashi Shimura are timeless and haunting.

This brilliant film captures what it truly means to live, a condition that the protagonist of this film unfortunately found very close to the end of his life, but fortunately in time for him to die filled with peace and happiness. What he had accomplished in his final months will forever remain as a testament to his true character, which is far more than can be said about most of the bureaucrats in office.

While I believe this film mostly lives up to it's hype as an all-time classic, I think the film could have had certain segments shortened. The pacing of the movie seemed just right until after Watanabe's death, when it turned into a series of flashback's followed by a "12 angry men" type discussion of the man's life in what seemed like an exhausting, drawn out effort to establish this man's credibility.

I have always looked upon Kurosawa as a man who knew how to express a message with just the right amount of content, but I think he drug this part out a bit too far and the film seemed to lose some steam during this segment. This is unfortunate, because the final moments of the film are really quite chilling. Overall, though, a fine movie that is guaranteed to instill some inspiration in all of us.