Drama
Japanese (生きる)
1952 · Directed by Akira Kurosawa · 143 min
Kanji Watanabe has spent decades stamping papers in a city office, one cog in a machine that exists mainly to avoid decisions. When he learns he is seriously ill, he has to ask what his years have been for. A quiet, humane drama from the director of Rashomon.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining work of Japan's postwar golden age, and the clearest proof that Kurosawa's humanism was as central to his art as his action cinema.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a study of how a person is seen: by family, by colleagues, and eventually by himself.
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