Ikiru

[Architect]

B&W, Mono, Subtitles, 143 minutes.

Ikiru is an early film by Akira Kurosawa. Built on a Carpe Diem variant, you can read the story in the Wikipedia link I give. There are several unusual aspects of this film worth noting.

One is that it's not the usual Western Carpe Diem movie, which usually ends with the main character running along a beach during sunset, their arms flung wide open taking in life in a SP manner. On learning he has six months, the main character doesn't go to his family or other people for solace, which is a modern idea in the US ("family is everything") Well he does try that, and I won't spoil it by revealing the outcome. Instead he ends up finding meaning in his work in a particular way, which is a Japanese cultural theme.

The second thing is the large number of what appear to be implicit criticisms of Japanese culture in the film. One is the tendency towards mindless bureaucracy and not shaking the boat (he works in Public Works and his job is just to pass the buck). Two is the tendency to give everything to your job, mindlessly (in contrast to the theme I mention above). Three is the fact that bad news is glossed over, the doctor won't tell him he has six months (this is true, doctors actually hide such news from their patients). There are others.

Ebert said he rewatches it every five years and it makes him think, I encourage seeing it.

 

[Cognisant]

Generally Carpe Diem movies just upset/annoy me, being told to seize the day makes me worry about the passing of days and whether or not I'm getting the most out of life which leads into this recursion of worrying about worrying.

I much prefer nihilistic movies like Crank where the protagonist is fucked from the start, doesn't deserve redemption and isn't seeking to make the world a better place, just looking to get some measure of personal satisfaction before the curtain falls upon life's absurd stage.

At the end of those movies I'm satisfied, I've enjoyed it and that's all that matters.

Still I'll give this a go, it sounds interesting.

 

[Architect]

Agree, I hate the Carpe Diem theme. Invariably saccharine and standardized. This one is different, if you like nihilism this will probably give you that angle too. Open to interpretation.

The main actor is quite versatile by the way, this is the fourth Kurosawa movie I've seen him in, all very different characters.

 

[Puffy]

I remember enjoying it, but thought the end scenes abrupt, unfortunately it's too far in the past now for me to really comment.

What other Kurosawa's have you seen? Rashomon is my favourite (and I think a lot here would like as it's very concept heavy), but I've also seen Kagemusha & Dreams.

 

[Architect]

I remember enjoying it, but thought the end scenes abrupt, unfortunately it's too far in the past now for me to really comment.

Hmm, maybe you're thinking of another movie, the end of this movie is anything but abrupt

What other Kurosawa's have you seen? Rashomon is my favourite (and I think a lot here would like as it's very concept heavy), but I've also seen Kagemusha & Dreams.

I've got the (now out of print) AK 100, films of Kurosawa set. Beautiful Criterion collection of his first 25 movies, of which he directed a total of 30. I've been going chronologically through it and am at this movie in 1950. Previously I've seen a scattering of his best movies, including a little known one which is my favorite, Dersu Uzala. It's an oddball, having been commissioned by Russia and shortly after Kurosawa attempted suicide at a bad time in his career, but I think it's one of his best movies.

I like his use of weather as a narrative device, his adaptations of Western ideas (King Lear) and that his movies are uniquely Japanese, but not particularly Japanese.

These early movies are interesting in that they give you a perspective into how Japan dealt with moving from a Feudalistic society to a modern democratic society with the defeat in WWII and subsequent occupation. Ironic that Commodore Perry started the process in the late 1800's, then the US finished it (and even had Perry's flag on board the USS Missouri during the surrender ceremony) only some 70 years later.

 

[Reluctantly]

This movie made me cry, especially towards the end...lol.

 

[Ex-User (11125)]

This movie made me cry,

Same...the swing scene
I love how expressive and heart breakingly earnest takashi shimura's eyes are

 

[onesteptwostep]

I finished watching this yesterday. Huuuuge movie spoilers below though, so don't open it if you want to see it with a fresh perspective.

Spoiler

My favorite quote I think in the movie was when Kanji says: "I can't afford to hate people. I don't have that kind of time."

Makes you think a bit.

If he had time, would he hate? Would he ignore them? Would he try to sort it out? I wonder how the movie would have played out if that were the case. He had death and pity on his side, to put it crudely. Yet that was what drove him and fueled his pity. It wasn't love or craving for company that ignited his passion either. It was his will and vision.

The funeral at the end was fascinating too- the types of rationalizations people can come up with to quell their curiosities and their ego. Yet there were still different perspectives. Some thought he was motivated by love, some others thought he was met by chance or coincidence.

But in the end, even if Kanji had died, and even though the men were touched by his determination, they still couldn't get the department to change. Even if the sentimential worker in the end tried to make a scene when a civillian wanted to report on a new sewage problem, he couldn't get the new Section Chief to man up.

All he could do was cherish the efforts and memories of Kanji, manifested by the playground. It's a beauty in a bubble.

Is that all man can do? Could we do better? Can I?

This movie reminded me of another Japanese film called Departures. Death is such a powerful catalyst.

 

[Architect]

My favorite quote I think in the movie was when Kanji says: "I can't afford to hate people. I don't have that kind of time."

Agree. I take that as a motto for my life. There's all sorts of things I just drop without another thought, there's simply no time for it.