Ikiru (1952)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Akira Kurosawa (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

25 March 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing...

Plot Keywords:

Office | Cancer | Park | City Hall | Playground

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins

Cast

Takashi Shimura	...	Kanji Watanabe
Shinichi Himori	...	Kimura
Haruo Tanaka	...	Sakai
Minoru Chiaki	...	Noguchi
Miki Odagiri	...	Toyo Odagiri, employee
Bokuzen Hidari	...	Ohara
Minosuke Yamada	...	Subordinate Clerk Saito
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Sub-Section Chief Ono
Makoto Kobori	...	Kiichi Watanabe, Kanji's Brother
Nobuo Kaneko	...	Mitsuo Watanabe, Kanji's son
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Deputy Mayor
Atsushi Watanabe	...	Patient
Isao Kimura	...	Intern
Masao Shimizu	...	Doctor
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Novelist
Kumeko Urabe	...	Tatsu Watanabe, Kiichi's Wife
Kin Sugai	...	Housewife
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Housewife
Fumiko Honma	...	Housewife
Yatsuko Tanami	...	Bar Hostess
Yoshie Minami	...	The Maid
Kyôko Seki	...	Kazue Watanabe, Mitsuo's wife
Kusuo Abe	...	City Assemblyman
Tomoo Nagai	...	Newspaperman (as Tomo Nagai)
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Yakuza Boss
Daisuke Katô	...	Yakuza
Miki Hayashi	...	Second Yakuza
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Newspaperman
Hirayoshi Aono	...	Newspaperman
Junpei Natsuki	...	Hand-Washing Cancer Patient
Toranosuke Ogawa	...	Park Section Chief
Akira Sera	...	Worker in General Affairs
Ichirô Chiba	...	Policeman
Akira Tani	...	Bar Owner
Yoko Kajima	...	Worker in Sewage Section
Haruko Toyama
Mie	...	Woman in Dance Hall
Sachio Sakai	...	Yakuza
Toshiyuki Ichimura	...	Pianist
Harue Kuramoto	...	Dancer
Lasa Saya	...	Stripper

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shinobu Hashimoto		writer
Akira Kurosawa		writer
Hideo Oguni		writer

Produced by
Sojiro Motoki	....	producer

Original Music by
Fumio Hayasaka

Cinematography by
Asakazu Nakai

Production Design by
So Matsuyama

Makeup Department
Sadako Okada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Teruo Maki	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hisanobu Marubayashi	....	chief assistant director
Teruo Maru	....	assistant director

Art Department
Yoshirô Muraki	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Shigeru Mori	....	lighting technician
Takao Saitô	....	assistant camera
Masao Soeda	....	still photographer

Other crew
Akira Araki	....	accountant
Hiromichi Horikawa	....	advisor to the director
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (1952) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Brandon Films (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1975) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Heron International Company (1985) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Media Home Entertainment (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Image Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1966) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sandrews (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Orchestra  music performer
• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

Doomed
Living (International: English title) (informal English title)
To Live (International: English title) (informal English title)

Runtime:

143 min | Sweden:123 min (cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Sweden:11 | Finland:S | UK:PG (video rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

The song sung by Kanji Watanabe, in the bar, is called Gondola no Uta, "The Gondola Song". Written in 1915, it is a song about women and how they should find love before their time has run out.

Quotes:

Toyo: [telling joke] "You've never had a day off, have you?" "No." "Why? Are you indispensable?" "No. I don't want them to find out they can do without me."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in American Beauty (1999)

Soundtrack:

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

To Live in Death

Probably one of the most difficult aspects a film like "Ikiru" has to overcome is the very rough march of time. To actually find someone these days, let's say a crowd of regular movie-goers to sit down and watch a film about an old Japanese man dying of cancer would be too much to ask.

Long held shots, hardly uplifting subject, to westerners very foreign. An array of reasons not to see it. And yet, once you actually start getting into the picture it doesn't let you go. Which is why it may be rightfully considered to be a classic.

Of all of Kurosawas film this is probably the one movie that works perfectly on an universal level. Because at its core it is about one of the most basic desires of human existence...namely to be able to look back on your life and say "It was worth it."

In its starch and unforgiving black-and-white form the movie records the time of one man's life in such a beautiful and yes, colorful way, that by the time the final moments of the film play out, it will be very hard for anybody not to be touched. A glorious moment in 20th century cinema, that will hopefully be preserved for decades to come.