DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
PRODUCER: Motoki Sōjirō
PRODUCTION CO: Tōhō
SCREENPLAY: Kurosawa Akira, Hashimoto Shinobu, Oguni Hideo
​PHOTOGRAPHY: Nakai Asakazu
EDITOR: Iwashita Kōichi
MUSIC: Hayasaka Fumio
WITH: Shimura Takashi (Watanabe Kanji), Himori Shinichi (Kimura), Tanaka Haruo (Sakai), Chiaki Minoru (Noguchi), Hidari Bokuzen (Ohara)
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​FESTIVALS: Berlin

REVIEWS

“In the West, director Akira Kurosawa is so often associated with his samurai films and his regular lead Toshiro Mifune that other aspects of his filmography are sometimes overlooked. That’s a major injustice in the case of this deeply compassionate character study, which is reportedly director Steven Spielberg’s favourite film. Takashi Shimura is utterly convincing as the reserved local government functionary who’s stayed in the same job for decades by keeping his head down, yet when stomach cancer strikes he resolves to bring some meaning to an otherwise fruitless life. Scrupulously avoiding slushy sentiment, the film’s narrative structure then cleverly moves the focus to the old man’s perplexed colleagues, pertinently prompting every viewer to ponder their own contribution to the common good.”

– BFI

​“Many Akira Kurosawa admirers cite this deeply-affecting piece of humanist cinema as one of the great director’s pinnacle achievements; it was Kurosawa’s own favourite. A low-key gendai-geki (film of contemporary life) dating from the same period that produced the celebrated historical dramas Rashōmon and Seven Samurai, Ikiru features Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura as Watanabe, a hidebound minor government official. Discovering that he has but months to live, Watanabe realizes that he has accomplished nothing of significance in his time on earth, and so sets out to do something that will give his life a meaning. Kurosawa’s portrait of postwar Japanese life is both poignant and pointed. The 'swing in the snow' scene is sublime.”

– The Cinematheque

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Wellington   
Monday, 10 March, 6.15pm

​Wellington   
Tuesday, 11 March, 6.15pm

​Nelson   
Wednesday, 19 March, 6.00pm

Tauranga
Wednesday, 02 April, 6.00pm 
​Luxe Tauranga

Palmerston North
​Wednesday, 07 May, 6.00pm

​Whanganui​
​Monday, 19 May, 7.00pm

​Canterbury  
Monday, 09 June, 7.00pm

​Auckland   
Monday, 28 July, 6:00pm

​​Hamilton
Monday, 10 November, 6.30pm​
KUROSAWA  >> ​