"TOHOCO., LTD." "Toho 20th Anniversary Film" "Arts Festival Selection - 1 952" "IKIRU (To Live)" "Produced by SOJIRO MOTOGI" "Screenplay by AKIRA KUROSAWA, SHINOBU HASHIMOTO, HIDEO OGUNI" "Cinematography by ASAKAZU NAKAI" "Music by FUMIO HAYASAKA" "Cast:" "TAKASHI SHIMURA" "Directed by AKIRA KUROSAWA" "This stomach belongs to theprotagonist ofourstory." "At this point, ourprotagonist has no idea he has this cancer..." "PU BLIC AFFAI RS SECTION CHI EF" "My child has sensitive skin, and that water gave him an awful rash." "PUBLIC AFFAI RS DEPARTMENT" "Plus it breeds mosquitoes like crazy." "And it stinks, besides." "Can'tyou do something?" "Itwould make a great playground ifyou filled it in." "Pleasewait a moment." "Sir, they've come to complain about a sewage pond." " Engineering Section." " Yes." "Ah, here is ourprotagonist now.." "But it w.ouldonlybe tiresome to meet him right now.." "Afterall, he's simplypassing time w.ithout actually living his life." "In other w.ords, he's not really even alive." "Odagi ri, how dare you, during business hours?" "But it's so funny." "Funny?" "What is?" "It's the "Liar's Club." Someone sent it around." "Read it to us." ""I hearyou've never even taken a vacation." "Is that because City Hall couldn't function withoutyou?" "'" ""No, because everyonewould realize that City Hall doesn't need me at all."" "Oh, no, this w.illneverdo." "He might as w.ellbe a corpse." "In fact, this man has been dead formore than 20years now.." "Before that, he did live a little." "He even actually tried to do real w.ork." "A PROPOSAL FOR I NCREASI NG DEPARTMENTAL EFFICI ENCY" "SU BMITTED 1 930" "But now., there's barelya trace of his oldpassion andambition." "He's been w.orn dow.n completelyby the minutia ofthe bureaucratic machine and the meaningless busyness it breeds." "Busy, alw.ays so very busy." "But in fact, this man does absolutely nothing at all." "Other than protecting his ow.n spot." "The best w.ay to protectyour place in this w.orld is to do nothing at all." "Is this really w.hat life is all about?" "Is this really w.hat life is all about?" "Before our friend w.ill take this question seriously, his stomach has to get a lot w.orse, and he'll have to w.aste much, much more time." "But any proposal for creati ng a park goes to the Parks Department." "This really seems to be a question of hygiene, so you'd better try the Health Department." "Go to the Sanitation Department." "See Environmental Sanitation." "Department of Prevention." "Infectious Diseases." "Lots of mosquitoes?" "That's a job for the Division of Pest Control." "The problem is seeping waste, which means it's a problem for the Sewage Department at City Hall." "Originally, itwas a ditch with a road running over it, which means the Roads Department." "We'rewaiting on a decision from City Planning." "Go toward Reorganization." "The Fire Department objected to draining that cesspool." "There arewater pressure problems in that area." "Areyou kidding?" "All we need's a good water supply." "There's no reason it has to breed mosquitoes and cause rashes." "Thinkwhat a timewe'd have getting that filth out of our hoses." "Of course, we'd love a kiddie pool in that neighborhood." "Trythe Education Department." "They should have a Child Welfare Committee." "But the problem doesn't only affect children." "We've had enough trouble just rebuilding all the schools." "A problem this big belongs with your Ward Representative to the City Council." "I'll giveyou an introduction to the Deputy Mayor." "Show him my card and he'll meetwith you immediately." "Please, sit down." "Thankyou for all your hard work." "The truth is that we truly appreciate folks likeyou, who know to bring such complaints directly to our attention." "That's preciselywhat inspired our new Department of Public Affairs." "Don't skimp on your complaints." "Hey, you." "Show these folks the Public Affairs desk." "You'll need to take that up with Engineering." "Desk 8." "How dareyou?" "Stop giving us the runaround." "What the hell's this poster mean?" "To help us kill time?" "We call people likeyou time-killers." "All wewant is to get that stinking cesspool cleaned up." "Ifit's Engineering, Sewage, Health, Sanitation orthe Fire Department," "Public Affairs should sort it out." "Forget it." "Wewon't botheryou anymore." "You'rejust laughing at us." "What a mockery of democracy." "Let's go." "Um, excuse me." "Unfortunately, the section chief took the day off, and it'd be easier for us ifyou'd put this in writing." "PUBLIC AFFAI RS SECTION CHIEF" "What doyou think?" "The section chief nevertakes days off." "Yes, he's been kind oflistless recently." "Butwe really can't have him taking extended time off." "Exactly." "It's not like him to take a day off over a little cold." "Nothing moves unless he stamps it." "Yes, you're right." "I must say, it's a terrible shame." "One more month and he'd have broken the record of 30 years without a single absence." "Trust me, some people are happyto have him gone." "Only a bureaucrat schemes to replace his boss as soon as he's out." "What's that medicine he's been taking?" "Stomach medicine." "He always slurped his noodle bowl to the bottom, but lately, he barely touches it." "Plain noodle soup." "In all theseyears, I've never seen him eat anything else." "And iftheworst happens, who'll replace him?" "What's the rush?" "Lots more guys have to die before it's yourturn." "X-RAY LAB" " Hiraoka-san..." " Yes." "Your stomach?" "Yeah, my stomach's bad, too." "It's what they call "chronic."" "These days I hardly feel alive unless my stomach hurts." " Suzuki-san..." " Yes." "That man over there..." "His doctor told him he's got an ulcer, but trust me, it's stomach cancer." "In a word, that very thing." "And stomach cancer is practically a death sentence." "The doc usually says it's just a mild ulcer, and that there's no real need to operate." "And thatyou can eat whateveryou want as long as it's easy to digest." "Ifthat's what he tells you, you've got a year, at most." "But ifyou've got these symptoms, you won't last a year:" "First, ifthe pain is kind ofheavy." "Second, ifyou can't stop burping unpleasantly." "And your tongue's always dry." "You can't get enough water and tea." "And then there's the diarrhea." "And, ifit isn't diarrhea, well, then you're constipated." "Your bowel movements go black." "And then, that meatyou used to love so, you can hardlytouch it anymore." "And whateveryou eat, you vomit halfan hour later." "And when stuffyou ate last week comes up when you vomit, well, then you're done for." "You've hardly got three months..." "Watanabe-san." "Watanabe Kanji-san." "Watanabe-san." "Yes." "Sit down." "Um... it looks like you've got a mild ulcer." "Honestly... please tell me... the truth." "Tell me it's stomach cancer." "I just told you, it's a mild ulcer." "What about an operation?" "Can'tyou operate?" "Oh, no, there's no need to operate." "It'll heal on its own." "And my diet?" "Well,just useyour common sense." "As long as it's easy to digest, you can eatwhateveryou like." "Does that patient have a year?" "No, I'd give him six months." " Six months?" " Yeah." "Whatwould you do ifyou had only six months left to live, like him?" "What aboutyou, Aihara?" "The barbiturates are overthere." "Is there a blackout?" "Thestreet lights andneighbors'are lit." "How.strange. I w.onderifDad's out." "Where's the key?" "In your handbag." "Did Hayashi-san forget to lock up when she went home?" "She's only a part-time maid." "Full-time would hardly break the bank, but a thiefsurewould." "That's just like Dad, the petty bureaucrat." "Man, it's freezing." "Just as cold inside as out." "I just hateJapanese houses." "Have a great time out and come home to this dump." "We need a modern home." " Honey..." " Yeah." "A house of our own would cost 500,000 yen, right?" "Use father's retirement bonus as collateral..." "Yeah, it ought to beworth 6 or700,000 yen by now." "Plus a monthly pension of 1 2 or 1 3,000 yen." "And another 1 00,000 in savings." "Butyou think he'd agree?" "Ifhe doesn't, we'll tell him we're moving out." "That'll clinch it." "Besides, even Popwouldn'twant to take all that moneyto his grave." "What's wrong, Dad?" "Oh, nothing." "Nothing at all." "Thatwas strange." "Listen, honey." "It's not fair." "What isn't?" "He heard ourwhole conversation." "It's really not fair." "It may be his house, but this is our room." "I can't believe he snuck in here whilewewere out." "Besides, ifhe's got a gripe, he should come outwith it." "Not go around acting like a crabby kid." "Stop being so moody." "Forget aboutyour dad." "He has his life." "We have ours." "Love me." "How.sad." "Shewas soyoung, and to leave such a sweet little boy behind." "She must have regretted dying." "Cut it out." "The same broken record." "Hurry, hurry." "Mommy's leaving." "You can't use Mitsuo as an excuse not to marry again." "As soon as that boy grows up, he'll never loveyou the wayyou loved him." "And when he gets married, they'll squeezeyou out." "You've got to think about your own future." "I'm telling you, find anotherwife now." "Besides, mywife says, the thought ofyou and your oily skin keeping upwith the laundry is too disgusting to bear." "Dad." "Mitsuo." "Goodnight." "You'lllock up dow.n there, right?" "Mitsuo." "What doyou say?" "What a great hit." "You know, the batter is my..." "Mitsuo, Mitsuo." "That idiot." "What's he thinking?" "Mitsuo." "Mitsuo, be brave." "It's onlyyour appendix." "No worse than pulling a tooth." "Can'tyou stayforthe operation, Dad?" "Well, I've got some otherthings to do and..." "Mitsuo, Mitsuo." "Banzai, Banzai." "Banzai, banzai." "Dad." "CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION" "IN RECOGNITION OF 25 YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED CIVIL SERVICE" "Watanabe-san left forworkas usual." "What?" "But he hasn't been in at all." "It's been five days now, but he hasn't called in sick either." "The sub-section chiefasked me to check up on him." "Madam." "Madam." "What?" "Impossible." "But it's true." "The man from his officesaidso." "What could Fatherbe doing?" "It's incredible, but it's really true." "The people at his house were flabbergasted." "What a bother." "When the section chief's out, I can stampyour paperwork." "But he has to approve any resignations, right?" "Don't tell meyou want to quit?" "I don't belong here." "Uncle, he even withdrew 50,000 yen from his account." "That miser?" "Maybe he's got a woman." "Thatwould be quite something." " Now, dear." " Never." "Oh, there's no telling when it comes to love." "The least likely ones have the highest risk." "Ifyou ask me, he's actually always been a real lech." "What they call a sullen lech." "But he's stayed single these 20 years foryou." "It makes sense he'd explode sooner or later." "Oh, no." "He's lost a lot ofweight recently, and his skin's strangely dry and flaky." "I bet there's another explanation." "You saw him recently?" "Four days ago." "He turned up that morning." "I thought therewas definitely something wrong." "Butyou knowyour uncle." "Hejust said, "Whythe glum look?" "Ifit's a loan, forget it."" "Hey, don't tell me he had good news." "Notwith that long face." "Now, honey, it's just that my husband thinks all men are self-indulgent, like him." "Say, Mitsuo-san." "Did something happen at home?" "No... nothing in particular." "Hey." "Deliver this to my place." "My editor's waiting outside." "And get some sleeping pills at the drugstore." "There's a prescription in my name." "But sir, the drugstore's already closed." "Is it that late?" "Around here, they close up shop after dinner." "What to do?" "I can't get to sleep unless I take them with my nightcap." "Um, I don't mean to be rude." "But I happen to have some sleeping pills with me." "Well, much obliged." "May I payyou the official price?" "No, no." "I was planning to throw them away." " But..." " No, really." "Really?" "Then let me pick upyour tab." "Oh, no." "You can drink, right?" "Please, have another." "You hardly seem tipsy." "Why, thankyou." "I throw up everything anyway." "In otherwords, my stomach..." "I have stomach cancer." " Stomach cancer?" " Yes." "That's a shock." "But then, what you're doing is crazy." "Yes, it's embarrassing, but..." "But..." "It's suicide to drink when you have stomach cancer." "But..." "I can't die." "I'll just up and die on them." "I want to, but..." "I can't... die." "In otherwords, I can't bring myselfto die." "I don't know what I've been doing with my life all theseyears." "No children?" "Your stomach hurts?" "No, it's not my stomach..." "It seems you're carrying a heavy load indeed." "No..." "It's just..." "I'm such a fool." "I'm just... so furious with myself." "Until just a few days ago," "I'd never even bought a drink with my own money." "It's only now that I don't know how much longer I've got to live that I finally..." "I understand." "I understand." "But drinking is plain crazy." "Besides, does it even taste good?" "No, it doesn't." "But... for a little while, I can forget my cancer, and all the other painful things." "Drinking... this expensive sake" "is like paying myself backwith poison fortheway I lived all theseyears." "In otherwords," "I mean, it feels awful, but it feels good at the same..." "I can understand." "Oh, why..." "Actually, I..." "I have 50,000 yen here with me, which I'd like to spend all at once." "But embarrassingly enough, the thing is, I don't even actually know how." "Sowhat I'm trying to say is..." "You want me to showyou how to spend it?" "Yes, I realize it's terribly forward of me..." "But..." "No, this money..." "It took me dozens ofyears to set aside this money." "All the more reason now to..." "What I'm trying to say..." "I understand." "But please putyour money away." "Tonight's on me." "But that's not..." "I..." "Just leave things to me." "Truly fascinating..." "I realize it's rude to call you fascinating, butyou're an extremely rare individual." "I'm a half-baked fool whowrites meaningless novels." "You've really made me think tonight." "I realizewhat they say about the nobility ofmisfortune is true." "Because misfortune teaches us the truth." "Your cancer has opened your eyes toyour own life." "We humans are so careless." "We only realize how beautiful life is when we chance upon death." "But few of us are actually able to face death." "Theworst ones know nothing oflife 'til they die." "You're splendid." "Rebelling against life atyour age." "Your rebellious spirit moves me." "You were a slave toyour own life." "Nowyou will become its master." "I'm telling you, it's our human duty to enjoy life." "Wasting it, you desecrate God's great gift." "We've got to be greedy about living." "We learned that greed is a vice, but that's old." "Greed is a virtue." "Especially this greediness for life." "Let's go." "Let us go reclaim the life you havewasted." "Tonight itwill be my pleasure to act as your Mephistopheles." "A good Mephistopheles who seeks no reward." "With a black dog to guide us." "Show us theway." "Listen." "These silver balls, they'reyou." "They'reyour life itself." "This machine liberates people who strangle themselves in their daily lives." "Avending machine ofdreams and infatuations." "Over here, sweetie." " Not so fast." " But..." "You don't know, but these women are the greediest of all mammals." "It'll costyou close to a dozen hats to get that old one back." "Besides, it's time to buy a new hat to switch to a new self." "Welcome." "Welcome." "We haven't seen you in a while." "The same foryour friend?" "What areyou laughing at?" "It's the honest truth." "He really has cancer." " Then why's he drinking?" " You idiot." "That's whyyou'll never get it." "Ecce homo." "Behold this man." "This man bears a cross called cancer." "He's Christ." "Ifyou were diagnosed with cancer, you'd die on the spot." "But not this fellow." "That's the moment he started living." "Right?" "Isn't that so?" "Listen, the thing is, that's the etiquette." "Listen, you, over here, here." "Anybodywant to request a favorite?" ""Life is Brief."" "What?" ""Life is Brief."" "Fall in love, maidens" "Oh, that love song from back in the nineteen teens." "Life is brief" "Fall in love, maidens" "Before the crimson bloom" "Fades from your lips" "Before the tides ofpassion" "Cool w.ithin you" "For those ofyou" "Who know. no tomorrow." "Life is brief" "Fall in love, maidens" "Before your raven tresses" "Begin to fade" "Before the flames in your hearts" "Flicker and die" "For those to w.hom" "Today w.ill never return" "That's the spi rit, man." "Life is brief" "Stri ptease." "Now, this is what I call art." "No, it's more than art." "It's more direct." "In otherwords, that female body gently undulating up there on stage is a juicy steak, a glass ofliquor, a bottle of camphor, streptomycin, uranium..." "Please, stop." "Hey, stop the car." "What?" "Had enough?" "I think he's throwing up." "What a drag." "Say, let's sing something." "I hate feeling blue." "C'mon a myhouse a myhouse" "I'm gonna giveyou a Christmas tree" "C'mon a myhouse a myhouse" "I'm gonna giveyou a marriage ring and a pomegranate too" "C'mon a my house a my house" "C'mon a my house a my house" "I'm gonna give you a peach and a pear I love your hair" "Section Chief." "I thought it was you." "I hardly recognized you in that new hat." "But I 'm glad." "I was looking foryour place." "Are you off to work?" "No, I'm..." "Do you haveyour seal?" "No, my seal's back at home." "I want to quit the civil service." "I'm in a rush 'cause I found a new job." " Then come to my house." " Sure." " Why areyou quitting?" " Boredom." "It's killing me." "Each day is as predictable as the last." "Nothing new ever happens." "Still, I put upwith it for a year and a half, but the only novel thing that happened was you taking a few days off, and now this new hat ofyours." "That was it." "In any case, don't say anything when Dad gets back." "I've nothing to say." "What I mean is, don't reproach him about anything." "Ifyou hadn't brought up his pension..." "You're so self-centered, blaming it all on me." "You brought up his savings." "Said even hewouldn't take them to his grave..." "But itjust doesn't make sense that that's all it took to set Dad off." "Dad's never stayed out all night." "Let's stop this now." "We don't even know what he's up to, let alone ifit's got anything to do with us." "I'llbe going then." "Oh, c'mon in." "Honey!" "Thirtyyears." "Thirtyyears in that awful place." "It kills me to think ofit." "I'm sorry." "No, it's just, recently, every time I see that award, it reminds me of thatjokeyou read us." "No, no, thatjoke hit the nail on the head." "No matter how hard I try," "I can't remember a thing I've done in that office overthe last thirtyyears." "All I remember, what I mean is, I was just busy, and even then I was bored." "I had you all wrong, Section Chief." "You actually get it." "What a shock." "That's crazy." "Whatever uncle says, I know Dad best." "But..." "I can't even imagine Dad with such a young girl." "This is the wrong form." "Areyou going in to the office?" "Yes, I've got to deliverthis." "Then will you post my sick leave?" "Why areyou staying out ofthe office?" "It's a hot topic around there." "Likeyou mutated or something." "I just..." "Areyou really sick?" "Actually, you look kind ofpale." "It's just thatwhat I mean..." "I didn't think so." "Sowhere doyou go when you pretend you're going towork?" "You don't fool me." "But how odd." "Don'tyou know?" "Sakai-san came here yesterday and spilled the beans." "Who cares?" "After 30 years with an unblemished record, you deserve at least six months off." "Besides, I'll cover foryou." "I'm not like that Fish Kite." " Fish kite?" "Yes, he's a human Fish Kite, that Sakai-san is." "His lips are always moving, but he's just hot air inside." "Besides, he acts like he's some high flyer." "He makes 200 yen more a month than I do, so he looks down on me." "Bye, then." "Say, wait, I'll gowith you." "Madam." "Madam." "You're so lucky." "I wish I could live in a house likeyours." "Our place crams three generations in two rooms." "It's like civil war." "And you have a wonderful son, right?" "In any event, where doyou buy ladies' stockings?" " You're buying some?" " Yes." "Western clothing stores carry them."