Ikiru::::To Live

"Ikiru is a cinematic expression of modern existentialist thought. It consists of a restrained affirmation within the context of a giant negation. What it says in starkly lucid terms is that 'life' is meaningless when everything is said and done; at the same time, one man's life can acquire meaning when he undertakes to perform some task that to him is meaningful. What everyone else thinks about that man's life is utterly beside the point, even ludicrous. The meaning of his life is what he commits the meaning of his life to be. There is nothing else." Richard Brown


I watched this movie yesterday night. I watched it before but could not finish it. This movie is a rare gem directed by legendary director Akira Kurosawa. It is about the man who is inflicted with stomach cancer and knows he is going to die and what he does about it during his final moments. It is a character study about a man and his life and the meaning of his existence. What does it mean to exist? Takashi Shimura (Godjira, Seven Samurai) as Kanji Wantanabe gives the most astounding performance that could rival any finest actors in the world ever. .. I had to watch again to grasp some details that went unnoticed. It left me deeply thinking of my own existence, touched me to the core. What does it mean to exist? We have to find our own meaning and live by it so we know that we have lived every day. And Kanji's last song..

Kanji: Life is so short ...
Fall in love, dear maiden..
While your lips are still red..
And before you are cold, ..
For there will be no tomorrow.