Film · 1952 · Drama
Ikiru
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
1952
Japan
★ 8.5 editorial score
Kurosawa's answer to how a life should be spent: a bureaucrat gets one piece of terrible news and starts spending what is left deliberately, which will change how you see your job.
“An established masterpiece, Ikiru was made in 1952, between Rashomon and Seven Samurai, and stars Takashi Shimura...in Ikiru he's a crabbed, middle-aged civil servant suddenly faced with his imminent death by cancer...The narrative is carefully paced, the central performance magnificent, the final effect overwhelming in a manner that recalls the great Russian writers Kurosawa admired.”
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