Desire for life

Jerrold 2022-01-03 08:01:17

The film describes what a model civil servant old man with advanced gastric cancer encounters in the last moments of his life. Kanji Watanabe, Chief of the Government Citizens Section, is a model local civil servant who has been on the job for nearly 30 years. The housewives jointly applied for the municipal government to fill the underground waterway and build a children’s playground on it. After the application was turned around, he was kicked back to the Citizens Division. A year later, the housewives came to the city government for the second time to make suggestions. One month later, Section Chief Watanabe went to the hospital for X-ray fluoroscopy due to physical discomfort. He was found to have stomach cancer, and he could only live about 4 months. Watanabe returned home, looking at the portrait of his wife, looking back at the past, feeling lonely and helpless, and not being treated well by his children. Desperate Watanabe did not go to work, took out half of his deposits, borrowed wine to sorrow in the tavern, hoping to get relief. Female staff member Oda gave Watanabe a lesson in despair. The next day, Watanabe went to work and took out the joint application of the housewife from the pile of documents. Five months later, Watanabe died on a swing in the children's playground in the memory of the people.

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Extended Reading
  • Dina 2022-03-24 09:02:11

    Akira Kurosawa always speaks clearly and deeply about human nature and the social state it consists of. The last 50 minutes were amazing, a great example for group portraits/personal arcs! Unexpectedly, I cried 3 times during this period...Movies are not made like this anymore, but the movies from 70 years ago are still very attractive to me. And the most magical thing is that this is still true in today's society!

  • Kailey 2022-03-21 09:02:10

    The death of a civil servant. Looking back at Qiqi's life through flashbacks of himself and others, there are a lot of close-ups of the face, the first third is very penetrating, and the back is just as slow as Shimura Bridge's staggering steps. The scene of swinging in the park is really moving. #CC Repair Blu-ray

Ikiru quotes

  • Toyo: [telling joke] "You've never had a day off, have you?" "No." "Why? Are you indispensable?" "No. I don't want them to find out they can do without me."

  • Kanji: Now I remember: I nearly drowned in a pond once when I was a child. I felt exactly the same way then. Everything's going black. I writhe and thrash around, but there's nothing to hold on to - except you.

    Toyo: What about your son?

    Kanji: Don't talk to me about him! I have no son. I'm all alone.

    Toyo: But...

    Kanji: No, you don't understand! My son is somewhere far away. Just as my mom and pop were when I was drowning in that pond. Remembering it now, it's even more painful than it was then.