Rating: 
Summary: A Film For All Seasons
Review: This is a humble film with the soul of an angel. It isn't about a life so much as it is about the act of living. This film, in its quiet way, asks us to ponder what makes life meaningful. And it argues that our pursuit of life's quantity is misplaced, because it leads to neglect of life's quality.It tells the story of a dying man's last days. Kanji Watanabe is a lifelong cog in a vast bureaucratic machine who has wasted his entire life shuffling papers. He is played by Takashi Shimura in one of the finest understated performances ever committed to film. Shot in black and white, it is melancholic, bleak and subdued. Likely, Kurosawa chose to film in black and white to reflect the starkness of the protagonist's last days; the way the world looks through dying eyes; and it works. It is the mark of Kurosawa's genius how the story and the character sneak up on us. At first, Mr. Watanabe seems an uninspiring study, hardly worthy of our sympathy. A small meek fragile man, he almost stoops under the weight of his own life. He learns of his illness in a well-known opening scene that combines pathos with cruel irony, and before we know it, we start to care about this little man who life treads so callously underfoot. What at first looks like lack of courage reveals itself to be lack of motivation. What we take to be a spineless career of dull conformity turns out to be a sacrifice made for the sake of an unappreciative son. This film has layers and subtlety and visual poetry presented with understatement, finesse and restraint: a wonderful combination that shows the deepest respect for the intelligence of the audience. The moral turning point in the story is reached when Mr Watanabe determines to accomplish one worthwhile achievement before his life ends. We don't realize how involved we have become in this little man's life until we find ourselves mentally urging him onward to overcome every bureaucratic obstacle he encounters. Not so long ago, with the prospect of a long life still stretched out before him, he was one of the very bureaucrats whose job it was to obstruct and confound just such aspirations. Now, with barely months to live, he makes it his duty to champion them. This turn of events is one of the most touching acts of redemption in all of cinema. By making amends for an unworthy past, an ordinary everyman finds life's meaning in his very last act of living. I have watched hundreds of films since Ikiru, but there are scenes from this film that have burned themselves into my heart and are as clear today as the moment I first saw them. This occurs not because the director achieved an especially vivid special effect, but because of how deeply we come to care for our little hero. The famous scene at the end is one of the most dignified and gracious artistic statements ever filmed, yet it is a scene of wounding simplicity: a perfect epitaph to a cinematic elegy. Kurosawa was one of the greatest of all filmmakers and this was his best and most personal film. It's a crime that his work is known only among the literati of the film world, and not to a wider audience. I cannot promise you that you will like this film, because it is paced with a measured and quiet deliberation that is utterly foreign to those raised on a western diet of car crashes, yammering idiots and pixie dust. You need patience, introspection and empathy to appreciate this gentle masterpiece, but if you are the kind of person who is moved by pity, tenderness, humility and grace, then I envy you your first viewing of this ode to the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: One of Kurosawa's most beautiful films
Review: IKIRU is one of the most emotionally engaging and powerful films I have ever seen. Easily the most popular non-Anglo-European film director, Akira Kurosawa's contemporary films have never achieved the popularity of his historical ones. Perhaps the built-in fan base of martial arts aficionados, or those looking for the inspirations of such films as STAR WARS, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, and A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS has made movie viewers more aware of films like THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, SEVEN SAMURAI, and YOJIMBO. Whatever the cause, Kurosawa's films set in the twentieth century have not received as much attention as these others, which is unfortunate because films like STRAY DOG, HIGH AND LOW, and DRUNKEN ANGEL are among his finest works. IKIRU is one of Kurosawa's most unique and moving films. IKIRU is perhaps Kurosawa's most intimate film, focusing on the inner life of a single character as he confronts his impending death. The first shot of the film is of an X-ray that shows that the central character of the film, Kanji Watanabe, portrayed magnificently by Kurosawa mainstay Takashi Shimura (the head samurai from SEVEN SAMURAI, the woodcutter from RASHOMON, and a host of other roles), is dying of cancer. A minor bureaucrat, during the course of the film he realizes how meaningless his life has been, and resolves to leave at least one good work behind. He single-mindedly focuses on getting a park for children built in the little time he has left, and the image of the soon-to-die Watanabe sitting in a swing in the park while it is snowing (winter being a sign of the end of his life but the snow a purifying symbol of the covering of past blemishes) he built for the children is one of the most powerful and beautiful in cinema. Only the most steely hearted won't find a tear welling up during that scene. There is a didactic message at the heart of IKIRU: we spend our lives asleep, doing things that do not truly matter and will leave no mark behind us when we leave. The question remains whether we, the living, will wake up like Watanabe, or whether we will go to our graves never really having lived. The irony in the film is that only when confronted with his own death. The film illustrates the truth of the words of Samuel Johnson: "Nor would ever anything wicked, or often any thing absurd, be undertaken or prosecuted by him who should begin every day with a serious reflection, that he is born to die."
Rating:
Summary: "To Live"
Review: This is is probably Kurosawa's greatest film. the films title couldn't be more appropriate, "to live" is it's translation. which sums up it's question "what does it mean to live life?". A man diagnosed with cancer realizes he has never truly lived life. he pursues the japanese night life in bars and dance clubs and eventualy in his hateful son but to no evail. he still feels empty, so he decides to make a difference. he works at a political office stamping papers. he makes plans for a playground and desperately tries to get them passed before it's too late. a fine performance for the legendary takshi shimura(seven samurai, rashomon, godzilla), and akira kurosawa's most moving and thought provoking films ever made.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Review
Review: (Minus one star because of the poor condition of the print)
Ikiru is argueably Kurosawa's masterpiece and the film is one of the true classics of all cinema. It suceeds on so many levels. A truly moving film that doesn't go for cheap sentiment, but instead touches the soul. Every action, camera move, and edit is brilliantly utilized make the film like a virtual text book in the power of filmmaking. The birthday party, Watanabe's song, the look of the office, the night of pleasure, the wake, the swing, and Shimura's eyes all linger long after seeing the film. Cinema at its finest. Image: (1:33:1) I first saw Ikiru on a blurry video cassette, the DVD is a lot better, but unfortunately its is still in poor condition. Throughout most of the night scenes there is a distracting light flicker on the edge of the frame that penatrates the black. It covers a wide area and is hard to dismiss. There are also many cases of a severe vertical line that cuts through the middle of the frame for several minutes at a time. Some key scenes have this across Shimura's face. Criterion probably did their best, afterall they achieved beautiful sharpness and good contrast with their transfer. According to Donald Richie's Kurosawa book, the original negative of the film has been destroyed so we probably can't hope for a better print. Extras: The audio commentary by Prince is one of the best scholarly commentaries around. It is one of the few talks that has truly increased my appreciation for a film by a large degree. His commentary points out elements of Kurosawa's art and skill that are so subtle that even multiple viewings would miss. A must listen to commentary for anyone interested in film criticism and technique. The second disc has a rather dull documentary on the film even though it has recent interviews with contributors to the film. Kurosawa himself isn't really asked about the picture. The longer documentary provides some rare footage of Kurosawa on the set directing his later day films and some interviews with him. The footage is great to see, although this probably would make more sense with the Rhapsody in August DVD since the clips are from it. Unfortuanately the documentary is poorly made, although it has some good biographical stuff, and the narrator is really annoying. It doesn't provide much insight into Kurosawa's process although it tries.
Rating:
Summary: Kurasawa at his greatest
Review: Kurasawa has always been unafraid to take on the largest questions about what it means to be human. In Ikiru that question is what it means to be alive. Is it the beating heart or moving limbs or functioning brain that is the criterion? No. The main character, played by the superb Takashi Shimura, has been technically alive and working at his deadening bureaucratic job for 30 years without missing a day. Yet he describes himself as a mummy. Kurasawa tells us through this metaphor that he has been dead all those years. The movie shows us that, ironically, it is only when he finds he is dying that he learns to be truly alive. With Ikiru Kurasawa has created yet another masterpiece. There aren't enough stars in the sky to rate this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful film
Review: This film is all about character. Do not expect any great action scenes or otherwise "exciting" angst. However, if you do like watching a film for character development or storyline, this is perfect for you. Starring the great Takashi Shimura (some might know him best as the lead samurai in "Seven Samurai") as a government officer who discovers one day he doesn't have much longer to live. He suddenly realizes how much he's wasted on his life and at first attempts to remedy this by visiting the hot spots of city life and spending time with a young girl from his office. He then realizes the best way to finish his life is to leave a legacy itself, and joins the crusade for a community project. In some ways it's almost like a Japanese "It's a Wonderful Life" except with out angels. The first time you watch this it might be slow, but once you watch it again you realize how every thing fits together and the characters' actions become more fleshed out. Kurosawa often worked with such character studies that showed the different emotions of mankind in their different situations; "Ikiru" is perhaps his most perfect effort into this.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly beautiful and moving.
Review: Since others have written lengthy, intelligent reviews (And I'm glad they did) I will use my space to be simple. The film, at its most basic level, is about redemption, living (Ikiru is "To Live" in english) and dying, and what matters most to really make a difference in your life, and the lives of others. The film is quiet yet utterly powerful, a basic study of a man trying to find meaning in his last days. But it's so much more than that, and I can only describe the film and its purpose as noble, genuine, warm, moving, and beautiful. It is not a sappy, happy movie, but it's so quietly affecting that I'm a grown man who is still reduced to tears seeing the pivotal "swing" scene that is on the movie's cover. What is happening in that scene, what it means, what it represents, and what is being said during the shot, is, to me, just about the most hauntingly moving scene I've ever witnessed. And I will remember it forever, as well as all of Ikiru, as a poignant, sad yet triumphant example of the human spirit to really persevere and make a wonderful difference.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE OF ANACHRONISTIC CINEMA
Review: You know the theme. This is Kurosawa's answer to "It's a wonderful life". But that is where the similarities end. "Ikiru" employs a very creative narrative style (and this was in the 50s!) to recount the story of a terminally ill man. It is an anachronistic assembly of anecdotes, vignettes, and personal accounts, which viscerally illustrates not only the timelessness of the story but also our protagonist's "rebirth". The deliberate pacing evokes a sense that the story is occurring in real-time. Kanji Watanabe never narrates his story overtly. His thoughts, his emotions, his fears unfold before us peripherally. Nonetheless, we see life, in all its hope and misery, through his languid eyes. In the end, "Ikiru" is not just a moving story that you'll watch, savor and pass on. It is an abiding story of humanity, the tragedy of an unremarkable life, the compassionate waking of a world in oblivious slumber. It's the universal story of simple lives -- yours, mine, and of that neighbour you said Hello to this morning. This one is a must for your collections.
Rating:
Summary: It's a Wonderful Ikiru
Review: I don't want to get carried away with comparisons but I couldn't help but compare "Ikiru" to It's a Wondersul Life". Each movie shows a man faced with a crisis who is forced to evaluate the meaning of his life. I suspect that most of us have seen "It's a Wonderful Life" in which the hero, George Bailey, discovers that his life has been far more meaningful than he ever realized. "Ikiru" shows us an opposite discovery for its' hero, Kanji Wantanabe, a widower. He is a mid-level bureaucrat who discovers that he has a terminal disease. As he contemplates the meaning of it all, he remembers a joke he heard at the office in which the value of his work is mocked. Has his life amounted to anything? In a poingnant series of flashbacks to his earlier life, we see a number of scenes that tell us of the two relationships in his life. We sense the sudden loss of his wife but it is the marvelously created scenes of his fading relationship with his son that touches us the deepest. I'm not sure I've seen many more touching scenes that the one at the train station when his son goes off to war. Thus his life has failed at relationships and at his professional career. What can he do with the time he has left? The answer comes from a young lady who works at his office and is wonderfully played by an actress who, I'm sorry to say, was not identified (in English) on the cast and credits. Wantanabe realizes that he still has time to do something with his life and goes about trying to do just that. I won't say anymore about the plot because the beauty of the movie is watching things come together. As a matter of fact, the way the director moves about in time allows us to piece the puzzle together retrospectively. The funeral is where we learn of the success and the different, often self-centered, perspectives add to the impact of the message. The ending is a reminder to us all that we can choose whether or not we, too, want to make a difference. However, just saying so doesn't count. The director, Akira Kurosawa, has created another masterpiece of the human spirit. The acting is very well done. Takashi Shimura seemed to me, at times, to be too detached from his role. However, I came to realize that he was acting the role of a man who was too detached from life itself. This is a film worth seeing. Unlike "It's a Wonderful Life" we don't come away feeling that life's a celebration. Instead, we come away realizing that life's a responsibility. Amen.
Rating:
Summary: Oh wow
Review: Ikiru-meaing "To live" concerns the trials and tribulations of a minor Japanese official as he is diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. He has to decide what to do with the time he has left. He goes through all of the stages of death denial bargaining ect. What he decides to do is finally to do SOMETHING. It is wonderful to finally see what he ends up doing. My Japanese history teacher recommended this to prove to us that Japanese cinema is not all Samurai movies(helping us to break down stereotypes). It is probably Akira Kurosawa's best film ever even though I personally like 7 samurai better. Overall-If you have not checked this out do so now. It may take a while to get started but eventually what you have is a guy who has never done a thing in his life facing his last days with a wonderful dignity.
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