Ikiru

(Living)

A lowly civil servant discovers that he is dying of cancer. After bouts of self-pity, a spell of hedonism and a doomed attempt at a platonic relationship, he commits himself doggedly to the task of converting a city dump into a children's playground. Tough-minded and unsentimental throughout, this is one of Kurosawa's finest films and also offers a vivid and satirical portrait of post-war Tokyo.

Availability

• A 35mm print of this title is available to hire
• A 16mm print of this title is available to hire
• A DVD of this title is available to hire
• A VHS print of this title is available to hire
• This title is available to buy on VHS
• The print of this title is from the National Archive

Cast and Crew

Director

Akira Kurosawa

Cast

Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko

Technical information

Country

Japan

Year

1952

Black and white

Running time

143 mins