IKIRU

Watching Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru" after some 20-odd years or more, I took only minutes to fall into the pace and emotion and to recognize what makes a "Kurosawa movie" different from the other classic Asian filmmakers styles.  Kurosawa's films are more muscular and agile than the meditative qualities of Ozu or the lyrical poetry of Mizoguchi or the mystical existentialism of Teshigahara.

What a beautiful movie "Ikiru" is. Because it deals with an old man coming to terms with his last few months to live and trying to find meaning in those dwindling days, I naturally compared it to the current popular cineplex product, "The Bucket List."  I have no ambition for or interest in seeing The Bucket List, but I would venture that nine out of ten people given the choice of what to do on a Friday night would opt for Jack Nicholson's grimace over Takashi Shimura's woeful and beatific countenance.

I enjoyed watching Ikiru by myself.  Sometimes I distrust the notion that movies are meant to be seen with audiences.  Groups of people can sometimes ruin a movie experience.  It is good to discuss films, but that doesn't mean one has to watch them at the same time.  People have different ways of studying a film.  I like to watch movies alone.  Especially when I'm going to sob buckets.

One thing that surprised me was the way the narrative chronology was broken up in the final half of the film, with more jumping back and forth to the past than any episode of Lost.  It also mirrors the contemporary Asian filmmakers use of time-warping, seen in the revitalizing film language in works of Hong Sang-soo or Wong Kar-wei.   The final part of the film also mirrors Citizen Kane in a way, as the meaning of the old man's life is divided and dissected by bureaucrats and officials as they sit and drink at his wake.

Roger Ebert says he watches Ikiru once every few years.  He meant it as his own personal pleasure, but I think it also would stand as good advice. 

Lee reminded me of a screening we attended years ago of the 1971 Kurosawa film, Dodes'ka-den, the little boy walking in circles pretending to be a train.  The film isn't available on DVD, but it is now on my "most wanted" DVDs list.  Dodes'ka-den, Dodes'ka-den...