Ikiru

Movie

1952

2h 23m

Japanese

Drama

User Score:

8.5

Critic Score:

Watch on The Criterion Channel

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

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Ikiru

Movie

1952

2h 23m

Japanese

Drama

Play Trailer

Watch on The Criterion Channel

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

WATCHMODE

8.5

IMDB

CRITIC SCORE

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Cast

Kanji Watanabe

Sakai

Mitsuo, son of Kanji

Ohara

Toyo

Kimura

Noguchi

Subordinate Clerk Saito

Kamatari Fujiwara

Sub-Section Chief Ono

Makoto Kobori

Kiichi Watanabe, Kanji's Brother

Deputy Mayor

Patient

Intern

Doctor

Novelist

The Maid

Tatsu Watanabe

Housewife

Housewife

Bar Hostess

Housewife

Kazue Watanabe

City Assemblyman

Newspaperman

Yakuza Boss

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Written By: Akira Kurosawa (Screenplay), Hideo Oguni (Screenplay), + 1 more

Featured Comments/Tips

JoeyvanAwesome says...

6 months ago

A tragic story which is told in an impressive way. Until the last part that is. After the guy dies it becomes dull very fast. You can’t really expect a movie to stay interesting if it's just a bunch of guys talking about what happened. Could’ve kept that part a lot shorter imho. Would’ve been more balanced that way.

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grtavares says...

12 months ago

>I will call this movie the slap in the middle class. I see that the film follows the same old pattern of new cinema. And not that this is a problem, ==however seeing that this movie is the one before the classic 7 samurais it is difficult to like it more. After all, compared to its successor. Ikiru, is a more austere and conservative film. That way, it's hard to like the movie more.== However, Kurosawa's stamp of quality is still visible and his cinema has an unrivaled craftsmanship. Both in camera movement and editing and despite not liking so many script formalities and the theatricality of the cast, we still managed to feel the film. *I highly recommend the film.*

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soonertbone says...

2 months ago

Beautiful, devastating, yet hopeful. Shimura's dual performances of "Gondola No Uta" absolutely rip my heart out--first because of the despair, and then because of the magic. This is a film to keep close.

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jimkbarton@hotmail.com says...

one year ago

I watched 'Living' last night, which is the remake of this movie. It was good but nowhere near as good as Ikiru. My goodness is this such a superior movie! So much more depth and feeling to the main characters. Also, the story just flows much better and has more of a purpose to it. Kurosawa at his best and that means a lot!

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Featured User Reviews

LucanReynolds

10/10 5 years ago

"It's our human duty to enjoy life."

My first Kurosawa has left me astounded. Ikiru - meaning 'To Live' - successfully crushes that ever-so-reputable challenge in making the audience think about life yet still remain as an artistic escape for them. It made me think about my fu More

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badelf

5 months ago

Typical Kurasawa creative framing in the beginning of the movie. The scene of dancers shot through bead curtains swinging in time to the music was brilliant. His choice of Miki Odagiri for muse is brilliant. Her laugh is infectious. The last act stuck me as rather static. It's perhaps from cultural More

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Peter McGinn

10 months ago

I watched the English follow-up version (Living) before watching this original, and wished Inhad reversed my order. I liked Living much more than this original, but since both were written by the same Japanese scriptwriter, my preference might be cultural rather than due to quality issues, not to me More

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Bradym03

10/10 4 years ago

"How tragic that man can never realize how beautiful life is until he is face to face with death."

So after I watched the masterpiece "Seven Samurai" back in April, I couldn't wait to watch another Kurosawa movie. "Ikiru" was one of his movies that I wanted to watch ne More

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