Ikiru and the Realities of Social Life

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November 2, 2020
Ikiru and the Realities of Social Life
Understanding the thematic relationship between the context of a film and its technicalities is important for any viewer. This is because of the fact that films were usually created under the influence of the prevailing societal and cultural paradigms of the times, which is the reason why they are also reflective of such. Accordingly, I would like to focus on Akira Kurosawa’s 1950s film entitled Ikiru. Initially, this analysis would provide a brief summary of the film followed by an analysis of its thematic and symbolic elements, which I believe is highly reflective of the cultural milieu of the Japanese society during those times.
Plot Overview
The story of this film revolves around the life of Kanji Watanabe who was a Japanese bureaucrat. Particularly, the movie focuses on the time when Watanabe is about to die, which is the reason why he was desperately trying to find reason in his life. Since his wife has been dead for a while and his son only cares for his inheritance, Watanabe found what he was looking for after he met his friend (the novelist) and Toyo, who was a young subordinate. Learning about how Toyo had found happiness in creating toys for children, Watanabe also vowed to create a playground for the children before he dies. However, the story did not end merely with his death. Rather, Kurosawa focused on showing the audience that Watanabe has also inspired his colleagues, yet such inspiration seemingly disappeared when they went back to the workplace.
Cultural Themes
Although there were a lot of themes presented in the movie, the most notable themes of one relate to Japan’s culture of hard work and discipline. Similar to modern Japanese society these days, Japan in the 1950s was characterized by overwork individuals who believe that following the rules and protocols was the best path for success.
On the one hand, Watanabe’s character serves as one of the greatest representations of this aspect of the Japanese culture. This is because similar to him the Japanese was one of the most disciplined and hardworking people in the world as evident from how they travel, meet, and even walk in the streets. Accordingly, it could be seen that Kurosawa intended Watanabe to ...