Ikiru - Movie Review

As with all movies on this website, our goal is not to provide a complete synopsis of the film, but rather to document how the movie relates to the meaning of life. With that said, be forewarned, there are still spoilers ahead.

Ikiru is a Japanese drama film which was released in 1952, directed by Akira Kurosawa and staring Takashi Shimura. In the film, Takashi plays the character Kanji Watanabe who works at City Hall as the chief of the Citizens Section; a job he has worked for nearly 30 years; a job he has done mindlessly stamping papers to pass time, and meaninglessly as a cog in a bureaucratic nightmare accomplishing nothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geKhyNerWM8

Kanji starts to have stomach issues and is told he has a mild ulcer, but he knows his time is short and he really has cancer. Our protagonist withdraws 50,000 yen from his life's savings with the hope to spend it all in one night. The only problem, he has no idea how to live. So he heads to a bar where he meets an author who becomes fascinated by his predicament—a man knows he likely has less than a year to live and has never truly lived a day in his life— a man who suddenly wants to know what its like to truly be alive.

The author, who becomes Kanji's Mephistopheles for the night, tells him: We only realize how beautiful life is when we face death. And even then, few of us realize it. The worst among us know nothing of life until they die.

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It's our human duty to enjoy life. Wasting it is desecrating God's great gift.

So, together, they drink, gamble, party, sing, dance, and even dabble in a bit of the more risqué stuff—a striptease and hookers.

Hauntingly, one of the songs Kanji requests at one of the clubs is, Gondola no Uta a real Japanese romantic song from 1915. A song he would be shown singing again towards the end of the film while on a swing in a park he pushed to get built before he passed away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-U1UgbiDUU

Eventually though, as the night goes on, Kanji, eyes eerily wide open, begins to just go through the motions, showing no emotion, knowing he is soon one day closer to his end.

Toyo Odagiri, a co-worker from City Hall bumps into him in town. Kanji hasn't gone to work for days at this point, and she needs his stamp of approval to resign. He tells her that the seal is at his house and he can do it there. So, off they go, and on the way he learns that she thinks her job at City Hall is meaningless and boring. Kanji stamps her paperwork but then also takes her shopping, out to eat, gambling, and more. She has so much life left in her and he wants to learn more, he wants to learn why. At first they joke around, she tells him about all the office nicknames, and eventually Kanji learns his nickname is The Mummy—a fitting name for the living dead.

As time would go on, Kanji and Toyo run out of things to talk about. Things get uncomfortably awkward as Kanji insists on spending more time with her, but she has gotten to the point where she finds him creepy. Kanji would go on to tell her, You - just to look at you makes me feel better. It warms this - this mummy's heart of mine. And you're so kind to me. No; that's not it. You're so young, so healthy. No; that's not it either... You're so full of life. And me... I'm jealous of that. If I could be like you for just one day before I died. I won't be able to die unless I can do that. I want to do something. Only you can show me. I don't know what to do. I don't know how. Maybe you don't know either, but, please... if you can... show me how to be like you!

Kanji has the realization that he still has life in him and would return to City Hall the next day. His final goal in life is to get a park built for a group of local women who have been complaining about the unsanitary conditions and has been stuck in an endless bureaucratic loop. Kanji also gets stuck in the loop, but his sad, even desperate persistence pays off and eventually the park would be built. In that park, on a snowy day, Kanji would also meet his end, as if he was only living to see its completion.

The final part of the film shows his co-workers and family members at his funeral debating whether he really had much to do with the park getting built or not. His name wasn't mentioned in public announcements or other acknowledgements. Some argued against his accomplishment, others for his impact on the project, while others discussed why there was a change in Kanji. Did he know he was dying? Was it the young woman he was hanging out with? Or something else? Not even his son knew he was dying—then again, Kanji never told his son, as his son seemed more concerned about his inheritance than his father anyway. On this Kanji and Toyo would have the following conversation:

Kanji: Now I remember: I nearly drowned in a pond once when I was a child. I felt exactly the same way then. Everything's going black. I writhe and thrash around, but there's nothing to hold on to - except you.

Toyo: What about your son?

Kanji: Don't talk to me about him! I have no son. I'm all alone.

Toyo: But...

Kanji: No, you don't understand! My son is somewhere far away. Just as my mom and pop were when I was drowning in that pond. Remembering it now, it's even more painful than it was then.

Ironically, Kanji worked that paper pushing job for nearly 30 years in order to best provide for his son. Eventually, the group reasoned that Kanji knew he was dying and found purpose in seeing the completion of the park. The group vowed to change, to be more like Kanji when they got back to the office, but upon return, things went back to normal and the bureaucracy lived on.

Overall, although this movie is often cited in articles about the meaning of life, the film deals more with finding a purpose and learning that no matter what job you have, you can make a difference. Also, be sure to live life a little before its too late.

The film is a hauntingly beautiful masterpiece. Takashi Shimura's acting was transcendent. Watching the film is indescribably transformative and will make you rethink your life.

Other great quotes from the movie:

Narrator: There's nothing left of that will or passion. They've been completely worn down by the minutia of the bureaucratic machine and the meaningless busyness it breeds.

Novelist: Ecce homo. "Behold the man." This man bears a cross called cancer. He's Christ. If you were diagnosed with cancer, you'd start dying right away. But not this fellow. That's when he started living.

Kanji: ...I did it all for my son's sake. But as it turned out, my son doesn't seem to give a whit.

Toyo: But you can't blame it all on your son... Not unless he asked you to make a mummy of yourself. My mom gives me the same kind of line sometimes. "The things I've suffered for you." And I'm grateful she had me. But it's not my fault I was born...

Movie rating:

Overall - 10

Meaning of Life Relevance - 6

Uniqueness – 10

Did you see the movie? What did you think? What did we miss?

#death