Ikiru (1952)

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

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto

Stars:

Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori

Top Rated Movies #126 | Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

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

Storyline

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...

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Plot Keywords:

meaning of life | cancer | death | old age | office | 

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Taglines:

This isn't it. It isn't here either. I want to do something. There is something I must do.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 March 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ikiru

Filming Locations:

Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,590, 5 January 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$60,239, 31 December 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min 123 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Anand" (meaning Bliss), loosely adapted from Ikiru, ranks topmost in IMDB's list of top 250 Indian movies. India's National Film Awards chose it as the Best Feature Film in Hindi in the year 1971. In 2013, "Anand" was listed in Anupama Chopra's book 100 Films To See Before You Die.

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Goofs

In the last scene with Toyo (in the restaurant with the birthday party going on), the position of the bell on the mechanical bunny changes, even though neither actor has touched the bunny.

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Quotes

Toyo: All I do is make these little things.
[Pulls out a stuffed mechanical bunny]
Toyo: Just making these is so much fun. I feel like I'm making friends with every baby in Japan. Why don't you try making something too?
Kanji: What could I possibly make at that office.
Toyo: Yeah, it's hopeless there. You should quit and go somewhere...
Kanji: It's too late - - No - It's not too late. It's not hopeless. Even there, there's something I can do. I just have to find the will.

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Connections

Referenced in Dream the Impossible Dream (2006)

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Soundtracks

Parade of the Tin Soldiers
written by Leon Jessel

User Reviews

Kurosawa is Kafka going Kawabata...

Being one of the Founding Fathers of Cinema, Kurosawa shines to all directions. In his diverse oeuvre it is hard, if not impossible, to find a weak work.

Ikiru is the most humane film of this grand Humanist. Kurosawa's story telling skills are sublime, and he has surpassed himself with this movie.

The slow pace and ditto camera movements (except in the night with 'Mephistofeles' where all is logically much more frantic) enhances the story superbly. What a pity some of the nowadays public can't find the tranquility and maybe serenity to watch a gorgeous film like that. That part of the movie lovers will miss a brilliant film, that would have lingered in the mind forever...