The real question of this story is: if you knew you were going to die, what would you do? Would you spend your last days doing everything you wanted to do
any form of pleasure you can imagine, or would you do something importance, something that would actually mean something.
An old man (Takashi Shimura) named Kenji is dying of cancer and feels his whole life has been wasted. For the past 30 years he's been working at Tokyo City Hall behind a desk accomplishing absolutely nothing, mainly just stamping papers with his rubber stamp and warming his chair.
When he does find out he has cancer in the beginning of the film, he simply stops going to work and one day meets a stranger (who does a terrific job with his role) in a bar and in a conversation he says that he has money but doesn't know how to spend it for sheer entertainment. The stranger has pity on the man but at the same time envy since he doesn't just kill himself, but faces the facts of life and so of course he helps the old man have a good time but with his money as they go out on a night of night clubs, women and booze.
Akira Kurosawa is one of my personal favorite directors and has many masterpieces but this doesn't exactly rank among those masterpieces like "Ran", "Throne of Blood", "Yojimbo" and the forgotten gem "The Bad Sleep Well". But that doesn't mean that this isn't a good film because in reality it's a great film, and the strongest point of this film is the simple but brilliant script as it tells us to appreciate life and the beauty of it, while we have it, hence the title of the film, "Ikiru" which means "To Live".
One thing I didn't like about this film is the way the old man talks throughout the film; as if he can barley speak and you can barley make out what he is saying. But then again that is his role, moping around with this performance, you really believe that this man is dying of cancer and is truly upset with himself for not "living" his life all these years. One of his co-workers even tells to him over lunch that everyone has a nickname at the office and his was "The Mummy". He pauses for a minute and she thinks she has offended him but he reassures her that she hasn't in-fact; she has named him perfectly as he realizes that's what his life has been ever since his beloved wife has left him 30 years ago.
Kenji feels that the worse part isn't dying; he feels that he has wasted his whole life and doesn't want to die before he does something of importance, meaning he wants to live his last days and not just exist as he has been doing all his life. He feels that he has been dead for a long time now but is just realizing it now when it's too late.
There is a great moral to this story and a novelist in this film says it best with this beautiful and unforgettable quote: "How tragic that man can never realize how beautiful life is until he is face to face with death."
An old man (Takashi Shimura) named Kenji is dying of cancer and feels his whole life has been wasted. For the past 30 years he's been working at Tokyo City Hall behind a desk accomplishing absolutely nothing, mainly just stamping papers with his rubber stamp and warming his chair.
When he does find out he has cancer in the beginning of the film, he simply stops going to work and one day meets a stranger (who does a terrific job with his role) in a bar and in a conversation he says that he has money but doesn't know how to spend it for sheer entertainment. The stranger has pity on the man but at the same time envy since he doesn't just kill himself, but faces the facts of life and so of course he helps the old man have a good time but with his money as they go out on a night of night clubs, women and booze.
Akira Kurosawa is one of my personal favorite directors and has many masterpieces but this doesn't exactly rank among those masterpieces like "Ran", "Throne of Blood", "Yojimbo" and the forgotten gem "The Bad Sleep Well". But that doesn't mean that this isn't a good film because in reality it's a great film, and the strongest point of this film is the simple but brilliant script as it tells us to appreciate life and the beauty of it, while we have it, hence the title of the film, "Ikiru" which means "To Live".
One thing I didn't like about this film is the way the old man talks throughout the film; as if he can barley speak and you can barley make out what he is saying. But then again that is his role, moping around with this performance, you really believe that this man is dying of cancer and is truly upset with himself for not "living" his life all these years. One of his co-workers even tells to him over lunch that everyone has a nickname at the office and his was "The Mummy". He pauses for a minute and she thinks she has offended him but he reassures her that she hasn't in-fact; she has named him perfectly as he realizes that's what his life has been ever since his beloved wife has left him 30 years ago.
Kenji feels that the worse part isn't dying; he feels that he has wasted his whole life and doesn't want to die before he does something of importance, meaning he wants to live his last days and not just exist as he has been doing all his life. He feels that he has been dead for a long time now but is just realizing it now when it's too late.
There is a great moral to this story and a novelist in this film says it best with this beautiful and unforgettable quote: "How tragic that man can never realize how beautiful life is until he is face to face with death."