Ikiru (1952)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori
Runtime: 143 minutes

Synopsis: A bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.

Verdict: "You've got a mild ulcer". Upon hearing this diagnosis from his doctor, Watanabe's world is shattered. He knows that it's code for stomach cancer, and he knows that this means that he has less than a year left to live. He looks back on his life's achievements, only to realize the sad reality of it all: He went through it like a ghost. His wife passed away a long time ago, leaving him with a son with whom he shares a bitter relationship. But his biggest regret is his decision to stick to his bureaucratic career for 30 years. It's a mundane. repetitive job that drowns him in paperwork rather than accomplishments, and he only comes to that realization when the harsh reality of his mortality is thrown at him. In other words, he's been surviving, not living.

"Ikiru" marks a change of pace in my journey to discovering Akira Kurosawa's filmography. It's only my fourth experience with his work and, unlike the previous three, this one isn't driven by a narrative led by samurai. Instead, it takes a very humane route that serves as both criticism on the ineffectiveness of bureaucracy and, most importantly, the importance of not taking the gift of life for granted.

Takashi Shimura's performance as the protagonist is phenomenal. The amount of genuine emotion he manages to capture will convince anyone that the character of Watanabe is real, which isn't far from accurate considering how relatable his story is for many people. Without him, the film wouldn't have worked as well as it did, and the image of him tearing up to the song "Gondola no Uta" will stick with me for a long time.

However, I'd be lying if I said that I was as emotionally invested as I was expecting to be. And I believe that this is mostly due to the odd direction taken in the final act. It's easy to understand why Kurosawa chose to take such a different path to conclude the story of Watanabe but, with this sudden change of presentation, a strange feeling of unfinished soured my experience. I started losing interest in an act that I thought was way too long and far less interesting than what had come before it, and I can't help but feel that the movie would've worked better had it progressed naturally.

"Ikiru" remains nevertheless a fantastic film that is certainly worth checking out. It's the type of movie I think I'll appreciate more as I grow older. One that will successfully push anyone who watches it to reevaluate their lives by reminding them that death can come at any moment and that the last thing they'd want to experience then is regret.

FINAL GRADE: 7/10