Ikiru (1952)

Ikiru (To Live)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Hideo Oguni
1952/Japan
Toho Company
Repeat viewing/My DVD collection
#258 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Kanji: I can’t afford to hate people. I don’t have that kind of time.[/box]

This is surely on my non-existent Top Ten Films list and maybe the most personally meaningful of them all.

Kanji Watanabe (Takeshi Shimura) has worked for the Department of Public Affairs for almost thirty years.  About all he has to show for it is a couple of certificates of appreciation and a perfect attendance record.  He has risen to the job of Section Chief. This seems to consist solely of stamping mountains of papers so they can be shuffled off to another section.

He causes quite a stir when he fails to report to work one day.  His stomach has been bothering him and he goes to see a doctor at the hospital.  Before he can be seen, one of his fellow patients kindly informs him of the symptoms of stomach cancer.  He has every one of them.  The doctors tell him he is suffering from a “mild ulcer” but he knows better.

Watanabe-san returns home where he lives with his son Mitsuo and Mitsuo’s wife.  But he is really all alone.  He is haunted by the idea that he may die before he has really lived.  So he sets about blowing a substantial portion of his savings on a drunken spree with a cooperative author.  This doesn’t help much.  The next day he is hunted down by a young subordinate who needs to have her resignation papers stamped.  He latches on to her, attracted by her sheer youth and health.  But she feels increasingly uncomfortable with his attentions.  She agrees to see him one last time.  During their last meeting, Watanabe-san sees a way to give his life some meaning.

The film then flashes forward to Watanabe-san’s funeral, attended by his fellow bureaucrats.  During the proceedings, which move from formality to a drunken wake, we learn, through flashbacks, how Watanabe spent his final days.

This film is both a biting critique of post-war Japanese bureaucracy and a philosophical look at what it means to live.  What it is not is maudlin in any way.  In fact, there are heaping helpings of humor.  Shimura is beyond superb in his portrayal of the dying man. The whole thing is beautifully shot.

The film is almost 2 1/2 hours long.  In previous viewings I have wondered if it is too long.  I have concluded that it is just long enough.  I think the shifting points of view during the wake and flashbacks is a brilliant way of removing any sentimentality from the story.  If we had it in chronological order it would probably have become a real weeper.  I watched this less than a month ago and then again yesterday.  There are few films I would risk that with. Most highly recommended.

Trailer