Actors: Takashi Shimura, Shinichi Himori
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Most films start out with, at the very least, a good idea. This idea is fleshed out, and by the middle of the film, we can see where things are headed. By the conclusion, we merely want the film to be over - we're tired of the idea. The great films, however, take that initial idea and don't let it become stale. They turn it around, backwards, topwise, show us all the angles. And they just don't miss while doing so. Ikiru is such a film.
I don't think I'm spoiling very much by saying this film is about a dying man - the opening twenty seconds let us know that. Kurosawa's masterstroke is the final third of the film, which is told through recollection. I at first bristled at this choice, but it lets us see the true impact of the film's events. The writing and staging of these final scenes is among the best I've ever seen in any film, anywhere.
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