Review of Ikiru (To Live): 1952

Life is brief.

We never genuinely grasp its brevity until we get a prognosis, factually ticking down the days we have left till we depart. The main character, Watanabe, was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He was working as a manager in a bureaucratic government office. Epitomizing kafkaesque bureaucracy, we see how a complaint brought in from general citizens are reverted from department to department to department, before ending up where it began, undealt with.

Through the lens of death, Watanabe explores what life should be as he reflects upon his 30 years on earth. Achieving nothing besides stamping documents. Due to his debilitating sadness, he tries out the vices of life — drinking, smoking — but soon discovers little to no joy in it. We see him interacting with a young female colleague, who is quitting her job, lamenting the government job’s boredom and futility. Through their interaction, he discovers that she is full of life and joy. Like a bug to light, he adores spending time with her to find out what it is that brings her joy.

Alas, he discovers that making the fullest of his final days is by contributing to fellow citizens. Through his capacity of government laborer, he spends his final months lobbying for a children’s park. Completing it before he dies, he spends his last moments in the garden, singing “life is brief,” and happily passes.

This movie begets us thinking, what does it truly mean to live? Is it family, fame, friends, money, or pleasure? We observe the MC traversing from one to the other — spending 30 years widowed for his sole child, saving up his hard-earned money, his brother believing that life is but fleshy desires, and him exploring vices when he first gets his prognosis. Yet, he found no joy in all this. But through his final project.

We see it through a third-party perspective, as well. The gungho-ness that overtakes his fellow workers upon learning of his self-sacrificial and grandiose project. Praising how great a man Watanabe is. Yet, alas, we see how quickly they forget life’s meaning. As the movie closes on these fellow workers forgetting the lesson imprinted.

Do we know how brief life is?
Are we living an examined life?

What does it mean to live?