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Ikiru (1952)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
25 March 1956 (USA) morePlot:
Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing... more | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins moreNewsDesk:
(7 articles)
Group Fun (From FilmExperience. 20 October 2009, 3:50 PM, PDT)
Daniel Craig Moves Into His Dream House
(From FilmShaft.com. 29 August 2009, 1:02 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Not just a film, but an incredible learning experience more (108 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Takashi Shimura | ... | Kanji Watanabe | |
| Shinichi Himori | ... | Kimura | |
| Haruo Tanaka | ... | Sakai | |
| Minoru Chiaki | ... | Noguchi | |
| Miki Odagiri | ... | Toyo Odagiri, employee | |
| Bokuzen Hidari | ... | Ohara | |
| Minosuke Yamada | ... | Subordinate Clerk Saito | |
| Kamatari Fujiwara | ... | Sub-Section Chief Ono | |
| Makoto Kobori | ... | Kiichi Watanabe, Kanji's Brother | |
| Nobuo Kaneko | ... | Mitsuo Watanabe, Kanji's son | |
| Nobuo Nakamura | ... | Deputy Mayor | |
| Atsushi Watanabe | ... | Patient | |
| Isao Kimura | ... | Intern | |
| Masao Shimizu | ... | Doctor | |
| Yûnosuke Itô | ... | Novelist |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
DoomedLiving (International: English title) (informal English title)
To Live (International: English title) (informal English title)
more
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
143 min | Sweden:123 min (cut version)Country:
JapanColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
USA:Not Rated | Sweden:11 | Finland:S | UK:PG (video rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) | Singapore:PGFilming Locations:
JapanFun Stuff
Trivia:
The literal translation of Ikiru is "To Live". moreGoofs:
Revealing mistakes: A beer sign is backwards in a bar scene, revealing the use of a mirror image. moreQuotes:
Kanji: I have less than a year to live. When I found that out... somehow I was drawn to you. Once when I was a child, I almost drowned. It's just like that feeling. Darkness everywhere, and nothing for me to hold onto, no matter how hard I try. There's just you. moreSoundtrack:
J'ai deux amours moreFAQ
What Are The English Lyrics To The Song Kanji Watanabe Sings? (+More Info.)more
more (108 total)
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A quiet, but very moving film. Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) is a clerk who has been living a dull, unsatisfying life working in the government's offices who is diagnosed with cancer and is given one year to live. He tries to enjoy his days by picking up a former co-worker (Miki Odagiri) and taking her out on the town. She finally convinces him that this is not the way to spend the rest of his life. He soon realizes that he has a strong desire to do something with his life so that it will not have been a total waste. Therefore he begins to work in cooperation with the people... accomplishing something that nobody in the office had the nerve to do before.
I consider Ikiru to be Kurosawa's first truly excellent film. The story moves along very low-key and we gradually realize the power and emotion that is in this great film. Roger Ebert said of Ikiru that it is one of the few films that can actually change the way you look at life after watching it.