Ikiru (digitale restauratie)

Kurosawa's hushed, deeply human character study of loneliness in the face of death casts a gentle glance at what it means to live. Ikiru is more than a film title, it is also a Japanese term, which can be translated as ‘living’ or ‘living one's life’. The terminally ill official in Ikiru asks himself how he can still give his life meaning and impact in the face of death.

Takashi Shimura plays this taciturn government official, who has kept his job for decades by mostly just keeping a low profile. But when stomach cancer strikes, he decides to give meaning to an otherwise fruitless life. He blossoms through a series of encounters that open his eyes. Kurosawa's eclectic style and striking compositions reflect his journey from darkness to light, all the way to the moving finale.

In the West, director Akira Kurosawa is often associated with his samurai films and his regular protagonist Toshiro Mifune so other films from his oeuvre are sometimes overlooked. How unjustified that is proves this compassionate character study, filmed in a modern style for its time, reportedly Steven Spielberg's favourite film. In 2023, the remake Living was nominated for an Oscar. 4K restoration by Toho.