The Cinematheque

“Were it the only film Kurosawa ever made, his name would be rightfully engraved on film history.”

Nick Pinkerton, The Village Voice

Many Kurosawa admirers cite this deeply affecting piece of humanist cinema as one of the great director’s pinnacle achievements—it was among Kurosawa’s own favourites. A low-key gendai-geki (story of contemporary life) dating from the same period that produced the celebrated historical dramas Rashomon and Seven Samurai, Ikiru features Kurosawa regular Shimura Takashi as Watanabe, a hidebound minor government official. Discovering that he has but months to live, Watanabe realizes that he has accomplished nothing of significance in his time on Earth, and so sets out to do something that will give his life meaning. (“To live” is the direct translation of the title.) Kurosawa’s moving masterwork, adapted by Kazuo Ishiguro for an Oscar-nominated British remake in 2022, is both a trenchant portrait of postwar Japan and a poignant meditation on mortality. The image of Watanabe on a swing set in the snow is one of cinema’s indelible moments.

In Japanese with English subtitles

One of the Ten Greatest Films of All Time
Martin Scorsese, Sight and Sound 2022 poll

“I find it the most beautiful, most accomplished, and most moving Japanese film that has ever been my lot to see.”

André Bazin, Cahiers du cinéma

“Ikiru remains a profound experience that still resonates today.”

Alex Ramon, Sight and Sound