Ikiru: is there life before death?

The big concern of movie reviewers, which is to play spoilers, seems inevitable in Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (To Live), which begins with an x-ray of the story's protagonist's stomach and a warning that “at this point, he still doesn't know he has cancer".

In fact, Mr. Watanabe, head of the public relations department at Tokyo City Hall, does not seem to realize what is going on around him. Obsessed with the task of applying his stamp to authenticate the documents that pass through his hands, what he actually does is do nothing, ignoring or solemnly giving runaround to taxpayers who come to the section to make complaints.

Absent from his work for the first time in many years, Mr. Watanabe receives the news of his illness, and despairs, less for the doctor's evasive announcement, but for the exact description of his symptoms by an inopportune man in the waiting room who gives him less than three months to live (the doctor does not speak, but believes the man would live at least another six months).

Returning home early after nearly being hit by a truck, the old boss kneels in the dark until he inadvertently overhears the talk of his son and daughter-in-law who unknowingly plan to use the father's inheritance and savings. The scene that closes the first half-hour of the movie is very sad and striking: the old man cries under the blanket for no one to hear while the camera shows on the wall a twenty-five-year award for excellent service.

Alone, the bureaucrat decides to drink and, in a bar, meets a writer who decides to guide him through places where the man had never dared to live until that moment: pachinko parlors, the red light district, and dance halls. Watanabe asks a pianist to play “Life is short, fall in love, dear maiden” and sings the song himself, causing everyone, including the movie audience, to fall into utter bewilderment. Here, Takashi Shimura is unforgettable.

Wanted by a coworker, who is resigning and needs his stamp to authenticate his resignation, Watanabe starts dating the girl for dinner and outings and has with her the great insight of her life: something meaningful can always be done. Returning to his work, the boss decides to fulfill an old claim of residents of a neighborhood: eliminate a pool of stagnant water, building a playground there.

The last fifty minutes of the film take place at Watanabe's funeral, where successive flashbacks are told of their epic by the city departments to do what they are paid to do. Accomplished, the master solemnly sings “Life is Short,” sitting on a park swing under a blizzard, and dies softly.

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