Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Takashi Shimura | ... | Kanji Watanabe | |
Shin'ichi 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 |
Kanji Watanabe is a civil servant. He has worked in the same department for 30 years. His life is pretty boring and monotonous, though he once used to have passion and drive. Then one day he discovers that he has stomach cancer and has less than a year to live. After the initial depression he sets about living for the first time in over 20 years. Then he realises that his limited time left is not just for living life to the full but to leave something meaningful behind... Written by grantss
I can safely say that I have seen no finer film than Kurosawa's true masterpiece, Ikiru. The story of a dying petty bureaucrat in 1950's Japan, Ikiru is as uncompromisingly honest and beautiful a film as has ever been made on the subject of life. Kurosawa elevates a story that could have been simple melodrama to the level of masterwork with a genuine love of his characters, and with an incredible technical direction. The film's structure accentuates and deepens its many, many lessons on life, and the performances, including a heartbreakingly earnest turn by Shimura are all flawless.
In short, Ikiru is easily one of the greatest works committed to film, and no discerning film aficionado should avoid experiencing it. Had Kurosawa directed only this film, it would still be enough to include him in the pantheon of the greatest storytellers who ever lived. Fortunately for us, it is simply the pinnacle of a staggeringly amazing career. It is the absolute definition of a 10/10 film.