Ikiru is a Kurosawa film far separated from "the films of Kurosawa." Set in modern times, drenched in sadness and struggle (though ultimately defined by personal redemption), the film could hardly be compared to the director's better-known films, mostly samurai tales that intermingle epic storytelling and ancient traditions. Instead, here is a personal epic, an existentialist treatise from a man who, while a near contemporary of Camus and Sartre, could hardly be called an existentialist.
What most surprised me about the movie (which I had put off watching for a few months during this project, a few years during my life) was the narrative rug pull midway through. The film intrigued me through an hour and a half, which mainly consisted of the main character being diagnosed with cancer and struggling to come to terms with the empty life he had led. But it really comes to life only after this character dies, and the next hour consists of his coworkers and his family coming to terms with his life. It's a story about democracy (or I suppose bureaucracy, but what's the difference?) and politics, but it is also about our mortal fears, our cowardice and our laziness. The question of what we would do if we had six months to live is a common one, but the full weight of this notion can only be felt once it is truly thrown in one's face. Seeing the men sitting in front of the main character's casket, quesitoning his motives just as they question their own, is a deeply moving, perhaps even spiritual experience. It elevates a film that may have wallowed in melodrama for its duration to a higher purpose. Roger Ebert, in his great movies essay on the film, said this might be one of the few films in history that could change the way a person lived. It may sound naïve to assume any movie could achieve such an ambitious accomplishment, but I know exactly what he means.
One more thing: I'm not the first one to notice this (as I discovered with a quick Google search of "ikiru parks and recreation"), but this film's plot of a neighborhood wanting to replace a dangerous zone with a park but facing bureaucratic red tape is the exact premise of the sitcom Parks and Recreation. Weird, huh?
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