Ikiru

1952 · directed by Akira Kurosawa

Rating

91/100

Hit

yes

Prestige lists

Criterion

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Ikiru (1952), directed by Akira Kurosawa, rates 91/100 — a hit. See how its director, cast and crew rate across their careers.

Cast

• Takashi Shimura
• Haruo Tanaka
• Nobuo Kaneko
• Bokuzen Hidari
• Miki Odagiri
• Shinichi Himori
• Minoru Chiaki
• Minosuke Yamada
• Kamatari Fujiwara
• Makoto Kobori

Crew

• Asakazu Nakai — Director of Photography
• Akira Kurosawa — Editor
• Fumio Hayasaka — Original Music Composer
• Akira Kurosawa — Screenplay
• Hideo Oguni — Screenplay
• Shinobu Hashimoto — Screenplay

More from Akira Kurosawa

1. Seven Samurai (1954) — 100/100 · hit
2. Rashomon (1950) — 99/100 · hit
3. Ran (1985) — 91/100 · hit
4. High and Low (1963) — 91/100 · hit
5. Throne of Blood (1957) — 90/100 · hit
6. Yojimbo (1961) — 90/100 · hit

How these numbers work: Methodology