Pssst, want to check out Ikiru in our new look?
Information
- Year
- 1952
- Runtime
- 143 min.
- Director
- Akira Kurosawa
- Genre
- Drama
- Rating *
- 8.3
- Votes *
- 44,060
- Checks
- 9,416
- Favs
- 1,646
- Dislikes
- 57
- Favs/checks
- 17.5% (1:6)
- Favs/dislikes
- 29:1
Top comments
-
Scratch47
I'm going to come out and say it: 4 years ago, age 22, I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Without going into details, I undertook a very different journey than most to the cancer experience, I fought, with alternatives and great stubbornness, spending a lot of time exploring my darkside and making peace with myself. My dogged determination and some remarkable occurences seem to have ensured remission, but you can't beat the human condition and I have no pretenses at immortality, so whether you give me another 5 or 50 years...my only mission as such is to take life by the balls and remember this film.
Watching this film for the first time tonight presents life's exit as ultimate and inescapable, giving the viewer a choice both crystal clear and razor sharp. How would you live if passion and love were your only choices? It's that simple, that brutal. Towards the end, the pacing drops to 'utterly aching', and the sound drops away: yes, the film itself might be a little too long, but the lethargic pacing in the final reel is there for a purpose, this is where you come in, where you meditate on what death means to you. Kurosawa is respecting your intelligence, inviting you to cut out your heart for the grandest of causes. The beautifully shot sets almost breathe with that intensity. I see a great amount of what I've become in those moments where Wanatabe bows his head only to slowly rise and stare into the camera: such despondency, yet such fierce longing and humanity burning deeply in his wide open eyes. I saw the best of man in a single moment, and I almost wanted to cheer. I don't see this as a sad film - my grief has been satiated. Wanatabe does not become the angel of death that he is briefly portrayed as. That choice is open to all of us.
This work welcomes a conversation on the most human of topics in a graceful and powerful way. Every human being should watch this deeply, deeply mature film. 10 years 11 months ago -
bodoni
"I have seen Ikiru every five years or so, and the older I get, the less Watanabe seems like a pathetic old man, and the more he seems like every one of us"
Ebert review: http://tiny.cc/y8rgdj28s5 14 years ago -
seithscott
Beautiful and brilliant, a masterpiece. I didn't actually find it depressing but it really makes you think about your life and the choices you make. The more I watch Kurosawa the more that I see how brilliant he really was. 13 years 5 months ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!Activity
-
kalanoka added this movie to their watchlist 2 days ago
-
pandamonium1 added this movie to their watchlist 3 days 4 hours ago
-
Karstadtdetektiv checked this movie 4 days 9 hours ago
In 25 official lists
-
This movie ranks #2 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Roger Ebert's Great Movi…
2 -
This movie ranks #2 in iCheckMovies's 1950s Top 100
iCheckMovies's 1950s Top…
2 -
This movie ranks #9 in Arts & Faith's Top 100 Films
Arts & Faith's Top 100 F…
9 -
This movie ranks #13 in Kinema Junpo's Top 200 Japanese Films
Kinema Junpo's Top 200 J…
13 -
This movie ranks #14 in IMDb's 1950s Top 50
IMDb's 1950s Top 50
14 -
This movie ranks #24 in Kinema Junpo Award - Best Japanese Film
Kinema Junpo Award - Bes…
24 -
This movie ranks #29 in iCheckMovies's Most Favorited
iCheckMovies's Most Favo…
29 -
This movie ranks #48 in Empire's The 100 Best Films of World Cinema
Empire's The 100 Best Fi…
48 -
This movie ranks #64 in BIFF's Asian Cinema 100
BIFF's Asian Cinema 100
64 -
This movie ranks #95 in Tom Vick's Asian Cinema: A Field Guide
Tom Vick's Asian Cinema:…
95 -
This movie ranks #99 in IMDb's Top 250
IMDb's Top 250
99 -
This movie ranks #108 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
108 -
This movie ranks #129 in FOK!'s Film Top 250
FOK!'s Film Top 250
129 -
This movie ranks #132 in Reddit Top 250
Reddit Top 250
132 -
This movie ranks #137 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
Sight & Sound's The Grea…
137 -
This movie ranks #183 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Mark Cousins's The Story…
183 -
This movie ranks #222 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
BFI's 360 Classic Featur…
222 -
This movie ranks #241 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
241 -
This movie ranks #263 in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
263 -
This movie ranks #331 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…
331 -
This movie ranks #378 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
378 -
This movie ranks #402 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
The New York Times's Boo…
402 -
This movie ranks #433 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
The Guardian's 1000 Film…
433 -
This movie ranks #446 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
David Thomson's Have You…
446 -
This movie ranks #459 in Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
Empire's The 500 Greates…
459