Ikiru (1952)

Movie Rating NR Contains: Strong Language

Director: Akira Kurosawa Movie Genre: Drama, Character Study Country: Japan Ikiru Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 10.0 Writing: 9.7 Acting: 10.0 Cinematography: 10.0 Sound and Score: 8.0 Functionality: 9.0 Presentation: 10.0 Genre Comparison: 8.8 General Comparison: 9.0 Overall: 9.4 Reviewed 2006-05-22 23:48:18

Akira Kurosawa is hailed by many as one of the greatest directors ever to stand behind the camera. His movie Ikiru greatly reinforces that belief. Ikiru is the story of Kanji Watanabe, a bureaucrat with the department of public affairs, who has not missed a day of work in nearly 30 years. When Kanji finds out that he has stomach cancer and less than a year to live, he becomes introspective, searching his soul, and seeking guidance from the people around him. Kanji comes to the conclusion that for the majority of his life he has been passing time rather than living his life to the fullest. He decides to overcome the requisite red tape of his public affairs position and see to it that a park is built over a cesspool in the poor section of town.

One of this movie's best qualities is the superb direction by Akira Kurosawa. It is amazing that Kurosawa was able to make the character of Kanji, a bureaucratic paper-pusher the most well developed, interesting character in the movie. That is not to say that all of the other characters in the movie are underdeveloped. Every role in this movie is expertly defined. Also, Kurosawa's revolutionary pacing makes the 140 minute runtime fly by, leaving the audience begging for more.

The cinematography by Asakazu Nakai is outstanding. Every shot in this movie is so well composed that any one of them could very easily be framed and displayed in a museum. Nakai's usage of lighting techniques and deep focus as methods of foreshadowing is unparalleled.

Also, there is a strong anti-bureaucracy message in this movie. In fact, this subtext later became the basis for one of the themes in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. In Ikiru, this sentiment is tragic as the poor people of Kuroe’s petition for a park gets passed around from department to department after each employee decides that it is not their problem. Kanji is easily assimilated into the role of the hero when he makes the plight of the residents of Kuroe his personal mission and stops at nothing to see that the park is built.
Ikiru is one of the greatest movies ever made. This is one of those movies where there is not a single wasted moment. Ikiru is as life-affirming, and equally as memorable as Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. This movie also shows that, while he is most popular for his masterful samurai epics, Kurosawa's entire body of work demands attention. Ikiru should be at the top of everyone's "must-see" list.