Kurosawa's keen eye for humanity, along with Shimura's brilliant performance, is what elevates Ikiru far beyond cheap sentimentality to some higher emotional plain.

It's amazing that a movie made over 50 years ago can still be so poignant today. Not only does is resonate on a personal level, but it's critiques on the government system are dead on. It can be a little slow at times, and the last act doesn't live up to the rest of the film. Ultimately, you will be in for a very rewarding movie experience if you take the time to watch this powerful film.

This film follows Shimura's forlorn civil servant Watanabe as he struggles to find happiness at the end of his life. The film softens its cynicism by allowing Watanabe to find happiness in his remaining days, but keeps its edge by relating his discovery through a series of unreliable narrators caught in the same trap that Watanabe just escaped from. The conclusion is hopeful, but also cognizant of the difficulties of living earnestly.

Close to perfection.

Ikiru is not a tear-jerker manufactured to extract tears. It is a simple, powerful, and devastating tale of a man who realizes he has months left in a life he's largely squandered. Takashi Shimura's performance is excellent, and Kurosawa's directing is brilliant in its understatement. Many movies have dealt with imminent death, but few as good as Ikiru.

Amazingly poignant. Shimura's acting is fantastic, Kurosawa's direction is at its best, and the message of the film is inspiring and emotionally fulfilling. So few of us are able to reach a level of self actualization, unless we are forced to. We talk, but talk is cheap. It's so much easier to blend in with the business and comfort of the system. This film makes me want to change that; this film has the power to make me a better person.

The only problem is the awkward transition to the bureaucrats telling stories halfway through, but other than that it's excellent. Very human and strongly directed and acted, it's not necessarily a depressing film - though you may cry - but an uplifting one.

I wish I had cancer, so I could do something so important as continually pester my coworkers until they stick a swingset in some drainage ditch. There's a lot to like here -- Watanabe's sheer desperation in his search for meaning, its utter lack of sentimentality, how absolutely nobody takes a lesson from the whole experience -- but its ultimate revelation that life as a cog in the bureaucratic machinery isn't especially fulfilling doesn't really strike me as particularly interesting in 2010.

What is it in our heads that makes it so hard to live the way we want to? And how do we banish it? This movie doesn't provide an answer really, but it makes you think. Marvelous camera work and a taut script, despite the longer than normal running time for a movie like this. Shimura is sullen squared, someone could've told him to pull it back, but Kurosawa seems to be going for exaggerated silent film type physical expressiveness. It works some times better than others.

One of the saddest movies I've ever seen. Incredibly well-directed, though. Kurosawa is incredible at having scene transitions that flow and conveying the characters' thoughts and emotions through implications. The quick cuts, narration, and shot composition are clear influences on directors like Jeunet and Cuarón. The two times Shimura is shown singing are just incredibly, hauntingly sad. The early flashbacks are tragic as well. So the film's a downer, but still extremely well done.

79

One of those films that makes you look at life differently and rearranges your priorities a bit. I've always considered this to be a much more superior "alternative" to It's a Wonderful Life. Kurosawa was able to portray meaning and spiritual profoundness in mundane deeds. It's admirable he was able to achieve this transcendent feeling in his film without resorting to magical or religious hocus pocus like Hollywood would have at the time.

Masterful film from Kurosawa with an inspired performance from Shimura. Kurosawa's visual sensibilities continue to mature after this film, but he never made a more emotionally gripping film than Ikiru. It's exquisitely structured in its narrative, the sound design adds markedly to the film, and its themes resonate deeply from the minor (government ineptness) to the major (life and death).

A movie built around a great performance by the lead. This movie is slow paced but in a great way... you watch the main character pull himself out of a mindless way of life to do something good and meaningful with himself. It has some really iconic shots. While the tale of Kanji is uplifting, I think that the rest of the movie is kind of depressing in a way.

A film that failed to resonate with me when I watched the first 40 minutes a couple of days ago, but I'm happy I gave it another go. Shimura is flawless as the helpless and in the end helpful Watanabe, a man who's completely worn down but decides to give his life some meaning when faced with misfortune. This film feels like a warm blanket, you just wanna wrap yourself in it. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, this is one of Kurosawa's best. Hope you give it a chance, or a 2nd one like I have.

Both incredibly depressing and uplifting at the same time. Shumura's performance is incredible, the fact that he never blinks is amazing. A lot of memorable moments, I especially enjoyed the scene with the Yakuza mob boss. Could be my favorite Kurosawa film.

One of the few films that has actually made me cry in years. This film has such a rollercoaster ride of emotions that I am so glad I had the privelege of experiencing.

The first two acts pretty much serve as a blueprint for modern cinematic tragedy. By blueprint, I mean they've been ripped off with reckless abandon. I can't count how many times "he only learned to live when he found out he was dying" has been used. It's good here, though. But the final third, which is set at the protagonist's wake, completely makes this film something different, special and unexpectedly political. I LOVED how brutally honest the ending was. Guy died, no one changes. The End.

The first black and white movie I ever saw also turned out to be favorite movie of all time, lucky or what?