Overview
Never one to shy away from grand themes, Akira Kurosawa here tackles the biggest and simplest of existential issues: the fact of mortality and the impact that the inevitability of death has on an individual life. A diagnosis of terminal stomach cancer forces a bureaucrat to take stock of his life and to seek some way of giving it meaning. Built around a superb central performance from Takashi Shimura, this is a classic of humanist cinema.
Kurosawa wrote the script with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni, creating not only a powerful indictment of bureaucracy but also a hard-boiled metaphysical affirmation of the moral message found in the title – Ikiru means to live. Ranked joint 157th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll
Related

The Ear The Ear
Thriller 1969 95 mins Director: Karel Kachyna
An official finds his home under surveillance and his marriage facing turbulence in this Orwellian portrait of life in Communist-era Czechoslovakia.

The Extraordinary Miss Flower The Extraordinary Miss Flower
Drama-documentary 2024 73 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Hugely creative biographical film full of charm and intrigue, uncovering the remarkable story of Geraldine Flower and a suitcase of love letters.

Paradise Lost? Paradise Lost?
Drama 2015 9 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s extraordinary interpretation of John Milton’s classic tale, starring Florence Pugh.

Swimming Pool Swimming Pool
Drama 2003 102 mins Director: François Ozon
A crime novelist seeks peace but gets a dangerous muse in this twisted bilingual thriller from François Ozon.

La Piscine La Piscine
Drama 1969 123 mins Director: Jacques Deray
A ménage à trois stirs passion and jealousy beside a secluded pool in this sultry, French cult-thriller.

Swimming Home Swimming Home
Comedy 2024 96 mins Director: Justin Anderson
A family finds a stranger floating naked in their swimming pool in this sensual, sun-baked drama starring Christopher Abbot.

Nosferatu Nosferatu
Horror 1922 89 mins Silent Director: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.

Pressure Pressure
Drama 1978 121 mins Director: Horace Ové
Hailed as Britain's first black feature film, Pressure is a hard-hitting, honest document of the plight of disenchanted black youths in 1970s London.

Wings of Desire Wings of Desire
Fantasy 1987 128 mins Director: Wim Wenders
In director Wim Wenders' (Paris, Texas) most metaphysical work, a guardian angel desires nothing more than to be human.

Oldboy Oldboy
Thriller 2003 120 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park’s wilfully grotesque fable about an abductee trying to fathom the mysteries of his past.

Citizen Kane Citizen Kane
Drama 1941 119 mins Director: Orson Welles
Given extraordinary freedom by Hollywood studio RKO for his debut film, boy wonder Orson Welles created this notoriously brilliant portrait of a media giant.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Drama 1975 202 mins Director: Chantal Akerman
Chantal Akerman's magnificent epic of experimental cinema offering a feminist perspective on recurrent events of everyday life.

Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.

Drunken Angel Drunken Angel
Film noir 1948 98 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Part gangster film, part melodrama and part social critique, Akira Kurosawa's first critical success follows the troubled friendship between a disillusioned doctor and a young yakuza.

Sanshiro Sugata Sanshiro Sugata
Crime 1943 79 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Kurosawa’s assured debut film about a young man’s spiritual journey through the study and practice of judo.

The Hidden Fortress The Hidden Fortress
Martial arts 1958 139 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa’s thrilling mix of fairy story and samurai movie - a story of rival clans, hidden gold and a princess in distress - was famously a key inspiration for George Lucas’ Star Wars.

The Bad Sleep Well The Bad Sleep Well
Crime 1960 151 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
The first film made by Akira Kurosawa's own production company is a dark tale of greed, corporate corruption and revenge.

Seven Samurai Seven Samurai
Drama 1954 207 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Farmers hire a band of samurai to defend them against marauding bandits in Kurosawa’s influential epic, a touchstone for action movies ever since.

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
Martial arts 1952 59 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Adapted from Noh and Kabuki theatre, Kurosawa’s classic tale of deception sees a lord and his bodyguard disguise themselves as monks to bypass an enemy roadblock.

Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.

Drunken Angel Drunken Angel
Film noir 1948 98 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Part gangster film, part melodrama and part social critique, Akira Kurosawa's first critical success follows the troubled friendship between a disillusioned doctor and a young yakuza.

Sanjuro Sanjuro
Crime 1962 96 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
In Akira Kurosawa's comedy, a ronin runs rings around nine young samurai while cleaning up a spot of corruption in local government.

Sanshiro Sugata Sanshiro Sugata
Crime 1943 79 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Kurosawa’s assured debut film about a young man’s spiritual journey through the study and practice of judo.

I Live in Fear I Live in Fear
Drama 1955 103 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Toshiro Mifune delivers an outstanding performance as a paranoid man striving to move his family to Brazil to escape the nuclear holocaust which he fears is imminent.

The Ear The Ear
Thriller 1969 95 mins Director: Karel Kachyna
An official finds his home under surveillance and his marriage facing turbulence in this Orwellian portrait of life in Communist-era Czechoslovakia.

The Extraordinary Miss Flower The Extraordinary Miss Flower
Drama-documentary 2024 73 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Hugely creative biographical film full of charm and intrigue, uncovering the remarkable story of Geraldine Flower and a suitcase of love letters.

Paradise Lost? Paradise Lost?
Drama 2015 9 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s extraordinary interpretation of John Milton’s classic tale, starring Florence Pugh.

Jarv Is... Beyond the Pale: Live from the Centre of the Earth Jarv Is... Beyond the Pale: Live from the Centre of the Earth
Documentary 2020 51 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Jarvis Cocker performs live in a cave in this spectacular concert film captured by BAFTA-nominated filmmaking duo, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

Edit Edit
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2014 30 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Short film by musician Joe McAlinden (BMX Bandits) and artists Iain & Jane (20,000 Days on Earth) about loss, truth and the emotional power of the sea

Swimming Pool Swimming Pool
Drama 2003 102 mins Director: François Ozon
A crime novelist seeks peace but gets a dangerous muse in this twisted bilingual thriller from François Ozon.