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Ikiru
生きる
1952 143 min Japan 18+
★8.5
Drama
Director: Akira Kurosawa
🎭 Based on
«The Death of Ivan Ilyich»
byLeo Tolstoy
Trailers
EN
EN
Description
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.
US Gross:
$60,239
Worldwide:
$55,240
Starring
Takashi Shimura
Actor
Nobuo Kaneko
Actor
Shin'ichi Himori
Actor
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 1954
— Berlin Senate Special Prize
BAFTA 1960
— Best International Actor
Key opinion
Akira Kurosawa’s 'Ikiru' is widely regarded as a profound and emotionally resonant meditation on existential purpose and the struggle against bureaucratic apathy. While critics almost universally praise its thematic depth and the central performance, some viewers find its deliberate, often static pacing to be an obstacle to engagement.
| Acting | Takashi Shimura delivers a transformative performance as a fading bureaucrat seeking meaning in his final months. | |
| Theme | The narrative offers a powerful and enduring philosophical exploration of mortality, existential legacy, and the value of selfless achievement. | |
| Direction | Kurosawa effectively uses atmospheric visual storytelling and creative staging to mirror the protagonist's internal emotional journey. | |
| Pacing | The film's slow, contemplative tempo is appreciated by those who find it meditative, but criticized by others as sluggish or overly static. |