MovieChat Forums > Ikiru (1956) Discussion > I was amazed and impressed by how restra...

I was amazed and impressed by how restrained the sentiment was

posted 15 years ago by j_money77
7 replies | jump to latest

Just reading the synopsis for this movie had me expecting a bit of a syrupy festival of sentiment or a tear-jerker, but I was very impressed with how matter of fact the content was presented, beginning with the opening shot.

I've seen someone on this board say its comparable to 'it's a wonderful life' with a carpe diem theme. I felt exactly opposite. Watanabe, in his struggles, finds out that niether his job or family (greedy son) gave his life any meaning or fulfillment, realized completely when he tries to tell his son about hsi illness but is incredibly cut off and chastized.

Holding back on teh sentiment made the final flashback of Watanabe all the more powerful, I thought, one of the only glimpses we get of him as happy or satisfied.

[–] hawks-bill 15 years ago

I, too, love the restrained unsentimental quality of it all. While I do believe it has a carpe diem theme, I believe it raises the question more than it poses an answer (as It's a Wonderful Life does).

The question is: what is the point of it all, if it all ends in death?

It also depicts Watanabe passing through five distinct emotional phases: shock, depression, isolation, escapism and acceptance. These phases are remarkably similar to the stages of dying that were later described in the pioneering research of Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. So I'd say that there is something uncannily accurate about Kurosawa's understanding of the dying experience.

[–] j_money77 15 years ago

I coudln't argue that there is a carpe diem theme, but its not presented in as cliche'd a way as I would havei magined.

I remember when I read the description of this movie, and being somewhat familiar with Kurosawa, I expected something heavy handed with a more syrupy sentiment, but I was pleasantly suprised to see how frankly and terse the emotions are. People always mention the scene where Watanabe cries himself to sleep as an example of this, and I completely agree---it could have become obscenely sentimental in the wrong hands.

While the flashbacks at Watanabe's wake do indeed lead the people to a carpe diem theme, it does come with a strong tint of bitterness afterwards, when they all return to their daily grind and ignore their drunken oaths.

[–] avidfilmfan 14 years ago

I couldn't agree more, the film managed to be touching without showing excessive scenes of crying or touching music, it managed to be subtle and let the situation speak for itself. The only other film I have seen that managed to accomplish the same thing at Ikiru's level is Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D.

“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.” -Akira Kurosawa

[–] JohnVFerrigno 14 years ago

This is one of the reasons I am dreaded the proposed Hollywood remake. Can you imagine a Hollywood studio making this film and NOT showing the death of the Watanabe character on-screen? How could they resist having an over-wrought, over-emotional death scene, with music swelling and slow motion camera shots of his arm dropping over the edge of a bed or something?

The restraint of this film is one of the reasons it is so powerful, in my opinion.

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[–] NoelCT 14 years ago

They'll probably even go so far as to have him drop dead out of the swing.

[–] Prismark10 8 years ago

The low key nature of this film why it has endured as a classic.

It's that man again!!

[–] zoolzool 7 years ago

Yes. Very true. Moving and poignant, without being overly sentimental.

"May the good Lord take a liking to ya, and blow ya up real soon!"