Ikiru is the tale of one man who has spend almost thirty years working hard, never taking a day off, and as the movie puts 'passing time but not living'. Kanji Watanabe is his name, and early on in the film, we learn that he has stomach cancer. He knows that this is going to kill him, and for a short time he reflects on the time he has wasted. He then goes on a journey, learning to enjoy himself and do something right for the world before he departs it.
Watanabe looks incredibly creepy in this movie, especially when he is just sitting still. He looks a bit like the living dead. I'm not sure whether it was because the film is in black and white, or it was just the way the actor, Takashi Shimura, looks, but there was definitely something haunting about him. I do get the feeling that that was the way he was meant to appear though.
The lesson that this film seems to teach is that one should live their life to the full, everyday of their life, so as not to regret it when they are old, and now incapable of truly living. It's a great message, and one that is wonderfully portrayed through this film.
I give this film an 8/10. Yes, in case you were wondering, it is spoken in Japanese, minus two songs, one of them being Happy Birthday.
That's all I really have to say on this film, go watch it if it sounds like something that would interest you. Lets not let the films of the past be left behind, in the wake of 21st Century special effects.
