Ikiru
A bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Studio
N/A
Release
25 Mar 1956
Runtime
143 min
Genres
Drama
Cast & Characters
Takashi Shimura
Nobuo Kaneko
Shin'ichi Himori
Did You Know?
Critical Assessment
Ikiru holds 8.3/10 on IMDb (100,520 votes), 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 92/100 on Metacritic.
Not enough independent critic/audience score breakdown available.
Ratings as of 2026-07-30
AI Verdict
AI-generatedBased on aggregated scores (8.3/10 on IMDb (100,520 votes), 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 92/100 on Metacritic), this is a data-driven snapshot rather than an editorial take.
Fan & Critic Buzz
The reaction to "Ikiru" is divided, with some reviewers appreciating the film's thoughtful portrayal of Watanabe's transformation and others finding it overly static in its later scenes. The reviewer enjoyed a follow-up version ("Living") but finds this original lacking due to cultural differences between scripts. Others praise Kurasawa's creative framing but criticize the ending as unconvincing, despite enjoying Odagiri's performance.
Reviews
Takashi Shimura is "Watanabe", an elderly civil service lifer who is told that he has terminal stomach cancer. After years of a disciplined, rather pedestrian existence he now feels a need to emancipate himself and start to live a little. The story is told through two threads: on…
CinemaSerf · 7/10I watched the English follow-up version (Living) before watching this original, and wished I had reversed my order. I liked Living much more than this original, but since both were written by the same Japanese scriptwriter, my preference might be cultural rather than due to quali…
Peter McGinn · 7/10Typical Kurasawa creative framing in the beginning of the movie. The scene of dancers shot through bead curtains swinging in time to the music was brilliant. His choice of Miki Odagiri for muse is brilliant. Her laugh is infectious. The last act stuck me as rather static. It's pe…
badelf · 7/10