Looking back at Akira Kurosawa's impressive fifty-year career in filmmaking, it's impossible to determine which film was his best. Fans of the late Japanese legend might cite The Seven Samurai or The Hidden Fortress, while critics believe that it should be Rashomon or Ran.
A growing band of Kurosawa worshippers has recently named Ikiru as his indisputable masterpiece. Unfortunately, I don't see myself joining the latter soon. Yes, Ikiru is Kurosawa's most deepest and reflective film, though in my opinion it's far from the masterpiece that it's touted to be.
Ikiru is a film best described as 'a game of two halves'. The first hour is vintage Kurosawa. It starts out with an X-ray image of a stomach diagnosed with cancer, and then introduces the film's pitiful lead character Kanji (Takashi Shimura) to the viewers. Kanji is a government official who has been loyally serving his department for many decades.
Upon receiving news that he's suffering from terminal cancer, he decides to take an extended break from work (which he has never done before) to reflect about his life. After some inner soul searching, Kanji realized that he has been missing out on life since he began working. He sets himself on a quest to live out his final months with a motto, "I cannot die until I'm satisfied with my life".
Cancer has taught people that life cannot be taken for granted. Kanji is a character that we can all relate to, from his humble personality to his simple outlook on life. Kurosawa cajoled out a magnificent performance from Shimura, not only was Shimura able to make us feel sympathetic toward his character, but his character was also able to earn our admiration by the end of the picture.
However, Kurosawa is no Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story, Late Spring). Those familiar with the works of these two Japanese legends will know that Ikiru is the kind of story that Ozu would have relished. Kurosawa is simply not as capable in handling intense dramatic material as Ozu.
This is perhaps the reason the second hour of the film fails to capture the greatness of the first. Kurosawa focused too much on the bureaucratic aspects and its faceless officials during the long funeral sequence than Kanji's final farewell gift to the community after an immense struggle involving politics and red tape.
Ikiru's lackluster second half dilutes the film's emotional value. Kurosawa did not have an off day; it's just that he was too ambitious to have attempted such a complex urban drama, though his ambitions have often led him to more successes than failures in life.
GRADE: B- (www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com) All rights reserved.
A growing band of Kurosawa worshippers has recently named Ikiru as his indisputable masterpiece. Unfortunately, I don't see myself joining the latter soon. Yes, Ikiru is Kurosawa's most deepest and reflective film, though in my opinion it's far from the masterpiece that it's touted to be.
Ikiru is a film best described as 'a game of two halves'. The first hour is vintage Kurosawa. It starts out with an X-ray image of a stomach diagnosed with cancer, and then introduces the film's pitiful lead character Kanji (Takashi Shimura) to the viewers. Kanji is a government official who has been loyally serving his department for many decades.
Upon receiving news that he's suffering from terminal cancer, he decides to take an extended break from work (which he has never done before) to reflect about his life. After some inner soul searching, Kanji realized that he has been missing out on life since he began working. He sets himself on a quest to live out his final months with a motto, "I cannot die until I'm satisfied with my life".
Cancer has taught people that life cannot be taken for granted. Kanji is a character that we can all relate to, from his humble personality to his simple outlook on life. Kurosawa cajoled out a magnificent performance from Shimura, not only was Shimura able to make us feel sympathetic toward his character, but his character was also able to earn our admiration by the end of the picture.
However, Kurosawa is no Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story, Late Spring). Those familiar with the works of these two Japanese legends will know that Ikiru is the kind of story that Ozu would have relished. Kurosawa is simply not as capable in handling intense dramatic material as Ozu.
This is perhaps the reason the second hour of the film fails to capture the greatness of the first. Kurosawa focused too much on the bureaucratic aspects and its faceless officials during the long funeral sequence than Kanji's final farewell gift to the community after an immense struggle involving politics and red tape.
Ikiru's lackluster second half dilutes the film's emotional value. Kurosawa did not have an off day; it's just that he was too ambitious to have attempted such a complex urban drama, though his ambitions have often led him to more successes than failures in life.
GRADE: B- (www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com) All rights reserved.