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Like the protagonists of so many films, Watanabe yearns to "seize the day," to come forth like Lazarus from his tomb and reclaim his life. But this soft-spoken film is profoundly different from others when it shows what a man might do with his day once he seizes it, and in the rigorously unsentimental way it observes the effect of his decision on the people around him.

Watanabe discovers a hard road to a kind of redemption. It may be that he walks in the footsteps of Christ.

Criterion is the Cadillac of DVDs: they release only the most significant films, working from best prints available and taking pains to clean up both picture and sound. The translation is far superior to the previously available Mei-Ah version: "Honestly he died in 20 years ago. Still alive, wanna to do something. But now the eagerness is no longer. This loses in … The busy body of the gov't." Thank goodness for Criterion.

The DVD includes a commentary from Stephen Prince, author of The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa. Prince's contribution is reveals many of the film's subtleties, though I did find his delivery terribly dull and quickly tired of the pedantic sociological analysis in the mix; there's a regrettable similarity to Ferris Bueller's history teacher ("Anyone? Anyone?"). There are also two very fine documentary features—an excerpt from the series "Akira Kurosawa: To Create Is Beautiful" dealing specifically with Ikiru, and "A Message from Akira Kurosawa (2000)," featuring interviews with the director on the set of his later films.

Talk About It

1. The commentary track says the director "ends with the heavens, that emblematic image for him of those mysteries that lie beyond the finitude of human life." What things in this film have a spiritual significance for you?
   
   
2. Isaiah 53 describes the Suffering Servant whose willing sacrifice will one day redeem Israel. How does this passage describe Jesus? In what ways is Watanabe like this, and in what ways is he different?
   
   
3. How does Ikiru compare to other carpe diem movies like It's a Wonderful Life? How does George Bailey's despair near the end of the film compare to Watanabe's night on the town? How are their lives similar? Do both movies say the same things about the meaning of life?
   
   

The Family Corner

This subtle, deliberately paced black-and-white film isn't likely viewing for younger audiences, who would probably find it slow-moving and its themes uninteresting. There is little in the film that's offensive, save a single use of the F-word (which could be avoided by turning off the subtitles around the 123-minute mark). Watanabe encounters prostitutes on the city streets, and gossips suggested that Watanabe has taken a mistress, but both details are treated with subtle discretion. There is one scene with an exotic dancer, tame by contemporary standards, and a considerable amount of drunkenness.

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