Ikiru (1952)
Kurosawa Akira
Japan
140 min, black and white, Japanese (English subtitles)
The title translates as the intransitive verb "to live" and this is exactly what the film is all about. Arguably one of the best films ever made, IKIRU is one of Kurosawa's finest, and most penetrating, achievements. It is also one of the most touching films I have seen, with several scenes making he wish (embarrassingly) that I had a handkerchief handy.
The story is about an aging bureaucrat, Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura), who, after spending nearly 30 years at his desk, finds out he only has less than a year to live. This forces him to reevaluate his life, and attempt to find some meaning in it. At first, he reacts with black despair; he huddles under the covers and weeps alone. Next, he tries pleasure; he goes to bars, strip joints, and gambling houses. Then, he tries to live vicariously through a young vivacious female office coworker. Finally, he hits upon the idea to define his final months, and thus his life, though purposeful action. He helps a local community build a small park.
Having told the initial stages of the story in so much detail, and having shown the intended solution in the first half of the film, Kurosawa then skips ahead to the all-night watch following Watanabe's death. This is a brilliant device because now, fully aware of Watanabe's motivation, we can see how his action is (mis)interpreted by nearly everyone around him. The story is told entirely through flashbacks of office coworkers, other public officials, and a police officer. Although the drunken bureaucrats eventually realize that the reason for Watanabe's zeal was his knowledge of impending death, and although they vouch to change their lives and the way they work, the next day is business as usual. Well, almost. At least one coworker seems to have been awakened by his realization for good.
IKIRU is an incisive indictment of the hypocrisy of postwar Japan and its bureaucracy. In fact, Kurosawa's revealing critique holds for any country with a sprawling bureaucratic apparatus. As far as I can tell, it holds for Bulgaria, and the US. Although the film is not really about the inefficiency, red tape, and neglect of duty so common to public office, it makes the point very well. As an existentialist statement, "Ikiru" is brilliant: the absurdity of life can be overcome with a single meaningful act. Most importantly, it is the main character himself who gives meaning to the act. It does not really matter whether his coworkers understand him, it does not matter whether his superiors take credit for his actions, and it does not even matter whether the community is grateful to him. All that matters is that Watanabe fulfills his duty as a public servant. Being a bureaucrat all his life, this is the only way he can define a purposeful and meaningful act. Having accomplished his goal, he dies happy in his knowledge that life is no longer absurd for him.
I have to mention two very potent scenes in the movie. The first occurs right after Watanabe recollects the procession for his wife's funeral. He has devoted his entire life to his son, Mitsuo. Now, although they live in the same house, they are strangers. In a particularly moving moment, Watanabe is overwhelmed by his memories, and he is completely overcome with love for Mitsuo. Then he hears his son's voice "Father..." He rushes to the stairs and then midway, he hears his son finishing the sentence "...good night. Please, lock up." The camera is on the top of the stairs, looking down at Watanabe who stands devastated, his momentary hope of closeness with his son shattered.
The other scene is when Watanabe is happily singing in the snow, on the swing in the newly built park. It is such a touching moment that it is really hard to contain the tears even though the character is happy, having achieved his goal. The camera slowly pans around to show Shimura's face. Generally, Shimura is one of the finest actors I have seen; he can portray everything from dignity to abject desperation, and he can do it without words. His expression, posture, and movement are very precise, and a joy to watch.
Definitely a classic, this film is worth seeing over and over.
March 19, 2001. BLS