Ikiru (生きる)



My wife was tired and retired early for the evening. Me, being a rather nocturnal oriented person, could not go to sleep so quickly. Instead, I decided to watch a film I had recently taped on the VCR. The film was remarkable and beautiful. A true drama about life and its meaning.
Written and filmed in Japan in the early 1950s, it hit home with me on several different levels. First, I have been feeling in a very poor state of sort mentally and emotionally. It seems harder to shake off than it has in the past. It has been a struggle to get out of bed every morning. I have felt anxious, unfocused, unmotivated, sad, sleepy, and disillusioned... all at the same time. Second, the film was big into the idea of service for others, a theme I ascribe to philosophically. Third, it was a captivating film set in black & white in early 1950s Japan, so it was intriguing from an historical perspective as well.

All and all, it was a very good film for me to see. I am glad I taped it from the Turner Classic Movie channel a week or so ago. Below, I cut and paste three different plot summaries for you interest:

This film was made in 1952 in Japan with English subtitles. The Plot Summary for "Ikiru":

Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for thirty years. Furthermore, his relationship with his son has become strained, as his son and daughter-in-law seem to care mainly about Watanabe's pension and their future inheritance.

After learning he has stomach cancer and has less than a year to live, Watanabe attempts to come to terms with his impending death. He plans to tell his son about the cancer, but decides against it when his son does not pay attention to him. He then tries to find escape in the pleasures of Tokyo's nightlife, but after one night he realizes this is not the solution. In a night club, Watanabe requests a song from the piano player, and he sings "Gondola no Uta" with great sadness. His singing greatly affects those watching him. The song is a ballad encouraging young women to find love while they are still young and beautiful, for life is short.

The following day, a chance encounter with one of his former subordinates leads him to pursue a different solution. Watanabe is attracted to her joyous love of life and enthusiasm. He opens up to her by saying he just wants to live one day in such a carefree, youthful way like she does. She reveals that her happiness comes from her new job, making toys, which makes her feel like she is friends with all the children of Japan.

Inspired by her example, Watanabe dedicates his remaining time to accomplishing one worthwhile achievement before his life ends; through his persistent will, he is able to overcome the inertia of bureaucracy and turn a mosquito-infested cesspool into a children's playground.

The last third of the film takes place during Watanabe's wake, as his former co-workers try to figure out what caused such a dramatic change in his behavior. His transformation from listless bureaucrat to passionate advocate puzzled them. As the co-workers drink, they slowly realize that Watanabe must have known he was dying. They drunkenly vow to live their lives with the same dedication and passion as he did. They soon find themselves buried under the same meaningless busy-work they had vowed to fight.

An iconic scene from the film is from the last few moments in Watanabe's life, as he sits on the swing at the park he built. As the snow falls, we see Watanabe gazing lovingly over the playground, at peace with himself and the world. He again starts singing "Gondola no Uta".

Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing. He learns he is dying of stomach cancer and wants to find some meaning in his life. He finds himself unable to talk with his family, and spends a night on the town with a novelist, but that leaves him unfulfilled. He next spends time with a young woman from his office, but finally decides he can make a difference through his job... After Watanabe's death, co-workers at his funeral discuss his behavior over the last several months and debate why he suddenly became assertive in his job to promote a city park, and resolve to be more like Watanabe.

In a Post-War Tokyo, when the bureaucratic chief of department of the City Hall Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) finds that he has a terminal cancer, he decides to intensively live his last months of life. While dying, he finds the meaning of life, and fights for the construction of a playground in a poor zone of the city and the legacy of his existence.

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