Ikiru - Essential Art House

If you're tempted to watch the newer version, I would think twice and watch this one first. It's so awkward and sad, but in a way like no one else but Akira can pull off.

Marking the first collaborative effort between Akira Kurosawa and Hideo Oguni whilst being partly inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒗𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒄𝒉’, Ikiru (生きる, "To Live") is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa and starring Takashi Shimura. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat named Kanji Watanabe and his final quest for meaning.Initiated with an x-ray of Watanabe’s stomach and an exclamation of his looming misfortune: there is no interest here in hoarding surprises, nor does ‘Ikiru’ award itself with any room for optimistic plot twists. A tad unorthodox with its depths of honesty - and by some measures, rushed - a certainty of death informally exonerates Kanji from his immediate responsibilities and lingering tethers.This x-ray may be clear enough, but this primary character stays largely mysterious during Ikiru’s primary act. Viewers are reminded persistently about his complacency in terms of his mortality - "𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅" - and the impression delivered is that there's little about his existence that is remarkable or escapes tediousness outside of a significant loss and his role as a paternal figure. Through flashbacks and vignettes of interactions that inch on being dramatically ironic it is made clear that much of his worth is tied closely to his financial status while it is simultaneously implied that he is very easily replaced (hold that thought). It doesn't surprise me that the view audience members have of Watanabe is originally obscured beyond repair: what else can we expect from a man isolated and so far removed from the understanding he has of himself?At surface level ‘Ikiru’ seems to have a completely anti-bureaucratic message, but I'm actually not fully convinced that this is Kurosawa’s intention. If I could vacate this review for a moment (and be humored), I have an analogy to interject.As I watch the interactions taking place in Watanabe’s place of occupancy (More specifically, one in which a group of women voice their frustrations over being given “the run-around”) I find myself looking back on a majority of the interactions I have ever had previously with any institution involving Public Welfare. These offices? They're chaotic. But they have an order. The work? Endless. Moments of relief? They never last. Employees? There's plenty. But there's never enough…. and they often come in three flavors: newly-hired, almost retired, and nearly expired. There's a hierarchy. But there's not. There's goals. There's hidden agendas. For every five failures or hiccups…. there's at least one opportunity for success.And even when there isn't an opportunity for success: there is a way to make a living.My point here being this: It’s likely that Kurosawa doesn’t mean to villainize any one character in this film or aimlessly demonize the system in which they are involved. These bureaucrats - including our main character - are akin to cogs inside of a poorly maintained machine; the 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 they have to operate efficiently or beneficially is often constrained and compromised by a combination of forces (greed and procedural shortcomings being at least two) as opposed to one being solely responsible.Even during the climax - a conversation in which Watanabe’s co-workers obsessively pull apart his motives - this tendency seems to drive much of the dialogue. There is a desire to point fingers. There is a desire to take credit. All the while - our main character's quest for meaning is made possible through an ultimately and intimately 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 effort even if it does start as an assumedly solitary one. Moreover - these bureaucrats get closer to making sense of their deceased co-workers “bizarre behavior” the further they sink into an alcoholic stupor and thus temporarily suspending the rigid nature of their mundane and ritualistically performative realities.Coincidence?I think not.On paper ‘Ikiru’ Is a bit of a sob story. An entourage of self-pity avoids being insufferable by an infusion of elements reminiscent of redemption. In the final minutes spent with Watanabe he lulls himself to rest with a ballad inspired by the fleeting nature of youth.In this moment I imagine a caterpillar entering the next stage of its life.Here is a man peacefully folding under the weight of reformation.Here is a man anticipating a moment defined by the ability to take flight.

You can appreciate director Kurosawa's skill when you see how the main character is changed by the young woman's joie de vivre just by the camera's angle and the subtle, yet deeply felt emotions expressed on the actor's face. In the modern version, Bill Nighy had to use words to convey this feeling.

Great movie that helps people what is important in life

I have nothing against Akira Kurosawa or his movies, but until very recently I had avoided his work like the plague. Why? Well, it comes down to the fact that the only people who ever bring him up are, without exception, crashing bores. They’re the smug film studies types who dismiss your enjoyment of The Magnificent Seven with some variation on the self satisfied “um actually, I preferred it in the original Japanese” put down. But lockdown can make a person do strange things. Psychologists are saying there’s a rise in eccentric behaviour such as singing loudly, wearing odd clothing, and watching black and white subtitled movies.We often don’t expect much from old films, the acting is theatrical and unnatural by today’s standards, the pacing and editing are a lot slower than we’re used to, and the stories often hinge on some outdated notions about race, sexuality, or gender which (for me at least) hinder whatever entertainment might be had. Imagine my surprise then at being utterly floored by this seventy year old subtitled film, I guess my dude Kurosawa had some skills after all.Smarter people than me have written yards of intelligent things about Ikiru, and I’m sure that some of what they say is even legitimate, but the truth is I don’t really care about any of that. I only care that I’m not bored or annoyed by a movie, that it actively tries to engage me, and that it strives to tell its story well. Whatever else one might say about Ikiru, it more than succeeds on all those fronts, pulling you in to Watanabe’s journey right from the first frame. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, poetic, devoid of easy sentiment or answers, features some truly astonishing acting- quite simply Ikiru is a marvel. Maybe it’s the paucity of new movies talking, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I watched it.On a side note, I rarely cry at films- and when I do it’s almost always when I watch a touchstone movie from my childhood, like E.T. or The Iron Giant, and even then I’m not crying because of the movie, I’m really crying for my lost inner snowflake or whatever. Well I was a snotty mess at the end of this film, bawling my eyes out like a toddler crying for it’s bottle. See this movie. You will not regret it!

Me encanto la historia y la película

余りにも有名なので作品についてはいうことはありません。ブルーレイで画質も綺麗で、日本語音声も入っているので問題なく見ることが出来ます。（英語の字幕はありますが。）日本の映画会社は何故ブルーレイを出さないのか？恥ずかしい限りです。

※クライテリオン４Ｋリマスター版Blu-rayのレビューです。黒澤明監督作品の中でも好きな三作のうち、「七人の侍」が人の強さを殺陣で、「羅生門」が人の醜さを喜劇で、そしてこの「生きる」が人の尊さを悲劇で魅せる傑作だ。1952年公開、戦後間もない混乱の中で、市役所勤続30年の堅物の市民課長が突然の余命宣告を突きつけられ、そこから“生きる意味”を探す旅をさすらい、遂には住民悲願の公共公園の建設を成し遂げて他界するまでを追ったストーリーだ。戦後勃興期の街の喧騒や人々の活気が描かれ、書類の山に埋もれながら決裁書に黙々と印を押す役人の姿や政界に意欲を燃やす市の助役、住民達の陳情を平気でタライ回しにする日本人らしい各課の怠慢も厳しい風刺として描かれる。これらの社会風刺や職業倫理を縦糸とすれば、主人公と息子夫婦との世知辛いスレ違いは横糸だ。早くに妻を失った男が誠心誠意に育ててきた息子との絆の崩壊は観ていて心が荒む。その絶望感に共感してくれた小説家の助けや、若い女性の生命力すらも、ぽっかり空いた心の隙間を埋めてくれそうにない前半の悲しい展開は観ていて辛すぎる。この打ちひしがれた渡邊課長を演じた志村喬は、まさに神がかっており、2年後の「七人の侍」の冷静沈着なリーダー島田勘兵衛とは似ても似つかない。その虚ろな眼光や壊れそうな佇まい、魂から絞られたような声に至るまで迫真にして完璧だ。恐らく邦画としては最高の演技だろう。60人を超えてクレジットされた脇を固める役者の演技も圧倒的だ。台詞の間の取り方や強弱はまさに黒澤劇場で、モノクロにも係わらず艶やかな色彩にすら見える鮮明な舞台をところ狭しと縦横に動き回る群像達の生命力がとにかく凄いのだ。雪降る公園のブランコで口ずさむ「コンドラの唄」や似つかわしくない派手な帽子、オモチャのウサギ人形等の印象的なアイコンも工夫されていて、その緻密な組み立てには心から感心する。黒澤明ならではの陰影深い画面と人生の悲劇と闘う男の熱きヒューマンドラマに、誰もが眼を釘付けにされることだろう。東宝版と見比べてはいないが、クライテリオン版の画質と音声は文句なし。黒澤明を海外に紹介する映像特典も充実していて満足だ。「人生は幾つになっても闘える」日本人の職業倫理と家族観に多大な影響を与えた本作は、観る者の人生の糧になる最良の邦画として指折りの☆７級推薦作です。未観の方は是非一度ご覧いただきたい。

観てきました。【午前十時の映画祭７】で、東宝が本腰入れて４K修復を果たした「生きる」。いうまでもなく「生きる」は傑作であり改めての作品評価は不要でしょう。従って修復度合を述べることにする。東宝版については後述するとして、クライタリオン４K版は先に評価されている方々が述べておられるように画質は明確さと質感はは向上したが、傷がかなり残っているので４（４Kがかえって傷を明瞭にしてしまったのは有りがちのこと）、音質は４.５、総合では４としました。クライタリオン４K版が発売された時点での東宝ブルーレイの仕上がりは酷く、画像は傷だらけで明瞭さを著しく欠き、セリフは部分的に字幕を出さないと聞き取り不能であり総合で３程度の代物。これに比べればクライタリオン４Kは入手し得る最良の仕上がりであったのは間違いない。小生も入手してすぐ何度も鑑賞したものです。　ところが東宝が４K修復し劇場公開した「生きる」は驚異的な画質と音で蘇った。画像の傷は全くなくモノクロの諧調もなだらかで美麗なもの。音声は音楽がデジタル特有のキンキン感があるものの、セリフはほぼ１００パーセント聞き取れた。主人公がガンなので志村 喬がわざとかすれ声で話すセリフ、市民課員の左 卜全の聞き取りにくい独特のセリフまわしがかつてないほど明瞭なのだ。これらの修復度合により東宝が劇場公開したのは相当の自信を感じさせる。黒澤組の数少ない存命中のスタッフでスクリプターの野上照代さんが、先に試写で鑑賞し「黒澤さんに見せてあげたかった」とおっしゃっていたのも十分頷ける。改めて劇場の大画面で観る喜びと、完璧な画像と音を確認できる喜びとが二重となり最後まで食い入るように鑑賞し、そして感動の涙を流した。東宝についてはやる気の無い安易な商品展開で多くの皆さんから非難ごうごうだったが、今回でやっとやればで来るじゃないかと思った次第。今後に大いに期待したい。こうなると【午前十時の映画祭７】で後に控える同じ４K修復版の「七人の侍」と「浮雲」の仕上がりがとても楽しみである。「七人の侍」は公開当時から三船敏郎の怒鳴り散らすようなセリフが聞き取りにくいということで有名でしたからね。いずれ今回の４K版が市販されると思われるが、老婆心ながら常識外れの高価なものにならなければよいがと危惧している。　東宝４K修復版「生きる」について少々言葉が過ぎたようだ。約言すれば今クライタリオン４K「生きる」を購入しても損は無い。皆さんの仕上がり評価は小生を含め上位にある。市販されているので入手可能であり、比較的納得できる価格でもあり、多くの皆さんが満足するだろう。東宝版は後で考えてもよいと思う。

白いウサギのおもちゃを握りしめて、レストランの階段を駆け下りてくる主人公。その背後でハッピーバースデイの歌が・・・。この演出はシナリオのト書きにはなかったものだ。セットが組まれてからの現場でのリハーサルでうまれたもの。黒澤監督の、とことん突き詰める演出プランに感動がピークに達したワンシーンだ！