Ikiru (1952) poster
Poster: TMDB
FilmNR1952

Ikiru

Drama

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life. From TMDB

202 reactions from 4 sources (Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon, TMDB reviews) · newest Oct 9, 2026 · last updated Oct 9, 2026 · How this works

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TMDB reviews *300

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Reactions

60 of 202 · most liked first
  • 🎃 Zack o' Lantern 🎃 @zackdavisson.comBluesky · Apr 28, 2024

    You want to see a fun movie about swinging bikini chicks? For a real wild time live it up and go see IKIRU!

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  • George Penney @georgepenney.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 20, 2025

    In a packed art deco movie theatre, people are waiting to see a screening of Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa. A woman(80s?) is attempting to get to her seat when she stumbles. Immediately, four different people reach out to steady her and help her on her way. (2)

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  • J.A.Tallon @tallon.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 9, 2025

    Leo Tolstoy (with scenes from the Akira Kurosawa film "Ikiru", partly inspired by Tolstoy novella "The Death of Ivan Ilyich") - BOTD

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  • r o o @jakepaulsartre.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 17, 2026

    There's this content creator girl trying to find one movie that will make her cry and the way her comments section is only recommending kiddy shit like Marley & Me is driving me insane. Like grow up, have an existential crisis after watching Ikiru like a regular adult, please, fuck

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  • Steve Silberman @stevesilberman.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 17, 2024

    Wim Wenders' new film, "Perfect Days," now on streaming, is sublime. It's a very, very quiet film in which "nothing" happens, but it's also one of the wisest and loveliest films ever made, akin to Kurosawa's "Ikiru." We're lucky.

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  • LeesahSea @leesahsea.bsky.socialBluesky · Aug 29, 2025

    Happy #LetterboxdFriday 📽️! A slow movie week as Warfare is a carryover from last week, but a good #LastFourwatched all around. Interesting that the two I saw in cinemas were not from this year. What have you been watching? Black Swan (2010) Ikiru (1952) The Ugly Stepsister (2025) Warfare (2025)

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  • 🍄 @cainhurstumi.bsky.socialBluesky · Dec 3, 2024

    Tonight’s movie in bed is: Ikiru

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  • NateMing on Elm Street @nateming.bsky.socialBluesky · Aug 11, 2025

    I'm pretty sure the "oh I love HAUSU" people annoy me just as much as the "Boku no Hero Academia" people did especially because this isn't a movie that was released overseas with a Japanese title, like Ikiru or Yojimbo yeah man I love that Jet Li movie JING WU YING XIONG

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  • Eclectic Collector @eclecticcollector.bsky.socialBluesky · Feb 3, 2026

    A truly moving, heartfelt drama about simply being human. After all the Kurosawa samurai epics, one has to get themselves in the mood for a low key film like this, but it's absolutely worth it. #filmsky #japan #physicalmedia #criterion #akirakurosawa #ikiru

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  • Cinefeast33 (demon version) 📽📺📚 @cinefeast33.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 23, 2026

    BOTD 3/23/1910: One of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Akira Kurasowa. Creating visual & thematic masterpieces thru decades, covered almost every genre with skill & precision. Four Faves (but honestly, impossible to choose): 52 Ikiru 54 Seven Samurai 63 High & Low 85 Ran #filmsky 📽

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  • MidCenturyCinema @midcenturycinema.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 23, 2026

    BOTD Akira Kurosawa!! MCCT5: 5)No Regrets for Our Youth 4)Stray Dog 3)Ikiru 2)Throne of Blood 1)High & Low More: @scottmacaulay.bsky.social: filmmakermagazine.com/93558-why-ku... @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social: www.slashfilm.com/942837/the-b... @jaspersharp.bsky.social: www.bfi.org.uk/lists/akira-...

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  • minnix @[email protected]Lemmy · Jul 18, 2024

    30 of the Best Movies People Think Are Boring: I can recommend Linklater's "Before" trilogy, The Straight Story, Inland Empire, Ikiru, Paris, TX, and my personal favorite Stalker.

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  • Emily @suika.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 31, 2025

    Time for my third Kurosawa film screening of the month! (Ikiru)

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  • J.A.Tallon @tallon.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 9, 2026

    Leo Tolstoy (with scenes from the Akira Kurosawa film "Ikiru", partly inspired by Tolstoy novella "The Death of Ivan Ilyich") - BOTD

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  • Cinefeast33 (demon version) 📽📺📚 @cinefeast33.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 23, 2025

    BOTD 3/23/1910: One of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Akira Kurasowa. Creating visual & thematic masterpieces thru decades, covered almost every genre with equal skill & precision. Fave 4 📽 (Honesty, impossible to choose): 52 Ikiru 54 Seven Samurai 63 High & Low 85 Ran #filmsky 📽🎥🎬🎞

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  • Daniel Dockery @dandock.bsky.socialBluesky · Jun 5, 2025

    I love when my critic friends that are also hardcore anime fans get to list their favorite films for important places. Because their lists are always like 8½ 2001: A Space Odyssey Battleship Potemkin Vertigo Ikiru Double Idemnity Il Sorpasso The Red Shoes Passion of Joan of Arc Digimon: The Movie

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  • optiMSTie @optimstie.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 15, 2026

    Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru is very much a winter movie, and it used that wintry setting to further reinforce the central narrative's themes about our main character, Watanabe, entering the last days of his life... ... and it all comes to a head in its most famous scene involving that swing in the snow.

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  • desean.bsky.social @desean.bsky.socialBluesky · Nov 12, 2024

    Watching an old Japanese film called Ikiru again. It has a good line about politics, the best way to secure your position is to do nothing.

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  • MidCenturyCinema @midcenturycinema.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 23, 2025

    BOTD Akira Kurosawa!! MCCT5: 5)No Regrets for Our Youth 4)Stray Dog 3)Ikiru 2)Throne of Blood 1)High & Low More: @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social: www.theguardian.com/film/2023/au... @christianblauvelt.bsky.social: www.indiewire.com/gallery/unde... @jaspersharp.bsky.social: www.bfi.org.uk/lists/akira-...

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  • J.A.Tallon @tallon.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 9, 2024

    Leo Tolstoy (with scenes from the Akira Kurosawa film "Ikiru", partly inspired by Tolstoy novella "The Death of Ivan Ilyich") - BOTD

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  • Martyn Wendell Jones @martynwendell.bsky.socialBluesky · Jun 28, 2025

    When it’s the day before your birthday, no one in the Saturday night movie club is allowed to object to your selection of Ikiru. They’ll just let you choose that

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  • mrtea99 @[email protected]Lemmy · Jul 13, 2024

    Actually this is Akira Kurosawa's *Ikiru* from 1952, an equally great film (and that's saying a lot) Source: I downloaded the subtitles, this scene is around the 2 hour 6 minute mark

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  • Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.socialBluesky · Jan 9, 2025

    Baby slept three hours last night during my shift, so I finally got around to IKIRU. It felt like the right movie to watch in dark times--a reminder of what we should all be tending to while we can.

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  • j-e-l 🎃 @jelbugle.bsky.socialBluesky · Aug 17, 2024

    #MovieMadness Favourite foreign language film One of my favourite films! Totally worth watching Ikiru (1952)

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  • Brandon Williams @stupidartpunk.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 6, 2025

    We watched Ikiru last night instead of the dumb thing. I didn’t expect it to have a strange inverse metaphor for our current situation but its a fantastic movie.

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  • Cinefeast33 (demon version) 📽📺📚 @cinefeast33.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 5, 2025

    #NowWatching LIVING (2022). Director: Oliver Hermanus. Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood. Remake of Kurasowa's great IKIRU. English diplomat reevaluates his life after receiving an unfortunate diagnosis about his health. Bill Nighy scored long overdue 1st Oscar nom. #filmsky 📽🎥🎞🎬

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  • Music Box Theatre @musicboxtheatre.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 28, 2025

    Akira Kurosawa’s most soulful and life-affirming film, IKIRU plays Sunday August 3rd at 1:30pm & Tuesday August 5th at 3:45pm. **New 4K Restoration** Get Tickets Now: https://musicboxtheatre.com/films-and-events/ikiru

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  • Mai Pupuna 💥✨ ♡ Legendary Vtuber ♡ ENVtuber @pupunamai.bsky.socialBluesky · Dec 26, 2024

    🎇【SCHEDULE, WEEK 52】🎇 ✧✧✧ FRI: Discord Movie Night: Ikiru (1952)・5 PM UTC 📽️ SAT: Last yappening of the year!!・4 PM UTC 🗣️ ✧✧✧ ▶️ twitch.tv/pupunamai 🎨: ka3iya3a_

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  • 🎃HunkyKarras🎃/♑🇮🇪🇬🇧 @hunkykubrick.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 14, 2026

    Picking a random film from my collection to show off for no real reason! Day #122 Every so often my thoughts circle back to Kurosawa's film 'Ikiru' which translates as 'To Live'. I remember seeing the film before my own battle with Cancer... #BluRay #CancerAwareness #FilmSky

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  • The Murders in the Brian Ruh Morgue @brianruh.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 24, 2025

    Share your favorite black and white movie. For me it’s Ikiru. I took a class on Kurosawa with Charles Ramirez Berg a good number of years ago, and this one was a revelation.

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  • Rowena Bell @rowena3.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 12, 2025

    Today's mood on film. Ikiru (1952) dir. Akira Kurosawa

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  • Leigh Walton @leighwalton.bsky.socialBluesky · Jun 22, 2024

    Akira Kurosawa's universally acclaimed film IKIRU is about an old man nearing retirement and confronting his mortality after wasting his life in an office… the actor in question was the ripe old age of… 47

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  • Lur Noise @lurnoise.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 31, 2026

    Might fuck around and watch Akira Kurosawa's 1952 classic film Ikiru (To Live) tomorrow.

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  • j-e-l 🎃 @jelbugle.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 28, 2026

    My 10 Favourite Films, off the top of my head - Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey - Revenge of the Sith - Ikiru - Gamera: Guardian of the Universe - Machine Girl - Plan 9 From Outer Space - Starcrash - The Day The Earth Stood Still - Zoolander - American Movie

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  • Random Stranger @randomstranger.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 17, 2026

    The final film of the occupation era for Kurosawa was Ikiru in which the protagonist spends the last days of his life turning that swamp into a park. It's one of those things that's obvious when you watch all of Kurosawa films in chronological order, and incredible and subtle storytelling.

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  • Rebecca Boone @rebeccastmaries.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 1, 2024

    Using MOVIE as an acronym, recommend 5 films: M: Minnie and Moskowitz O: Old Joy V: Village of the Damned I: Ikiru E. Eight Men Out

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  • A L I E N Cerny @alancerny.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 26, 2024

    SEVEN SAMURAI is 70 years old today. In my opinion, the greatest film ever made (although I’ll sit for an IKIRU discussion). You should give it a spin if you’ve never seen it; you’d be surprised by how fun and action-packed it gets. It’s probably Akira Kurosawa’s most accessible work.

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  • Darrell Clem @darrellclem.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 9, 2026

    #OscarsMonth #FilmSky Day 9: I IKIRU (Japanese, 1952) is a touching film about a dying man finding end-of-life meaning by building a children’s playground. It’s one of the films that earned Akira Kurosawa an honorary Oscar for his lifetime of work. It’s my favorite by the esteemed director.

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  • Ryan ⚾️🌪️ @5dogwooddrive.bsky.socialBluesky · Dec 24, 2025

    The year’s not quite over (and now that it’s finally winter break, I’ve got more movie time), but here are my 20 favorite first watches of 2025 (unranked). #FilmSky I’d say the movies that affected me most profoundly were Ikiru, The Apartment, Wages of Fear, Junior Bonner, and The Long Goodbye.

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  • Loaph @loaphmeat.bsky.socialBluesky · Dec 2, 2024

    Tonight’s film: Ikiru A 1952 Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa #Filmsky

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  • Sam Rasnake @samrasnake.bsky.socialBluesky · Nov 22, 2023

    A week of Kurosawa, 3/5 Ikiru / Akira Kurosawa, dir. (1952) The title of Mark Chalon Smith’s review in the LA Times, a perfect overview: “‘Ikiru’: Classic of Self-Discovery : Kurosawa’s 1952 masterpiece is a story of deep personal emotion set against the backdrop of a reeling postwar society.” 📽️

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  • Kelvira 🎃 @ohhellkell.bsky.socialBluesky · Aug 27, 2026

    This is hard! Jurassic Park made me love movies as a kid. Seven Samurai made me appreciate film in a way that I hadn't before, setting me down a path of nerdiness that continues to this day. Then there's Jaws, Ikiru, Tree of Life... Fuck it. You need to see Godzilla vs Hedorah. You MUST. GOJI FLIES

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  • Terrible Swift Sword Enjoyer @hamantaschendog.bsky.socialBluesky · Jan 12, 2026

    Ikiru, *maybe* the greatest film ever made, is about how anybody can be a hero if they are sufficiently annoying

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  • David, Run! @runningdavid.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 17, 2025

    #filmsilove #ikiru

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  • stevie. @steviemoraa.bsky.socialBluesky · Jan 22, 2025

    as someone who is constantly trying to push change through local and state governments, i think about the movie Ikiru a lot.

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  • Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 21, 2024

    A few more: -The Killer is 2023's most underrated movie -The Sting and Heat remain 2 of my favorite movies ever upon nth rewatch -Never been a big concert movie guy but The Last Waltz lives up to the hype -Dumb Money is *awful*, don't bother -Ikiru -- this Kurosawa guy knew what he was doing, huh

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  • Weed Detective @wolfmanzack.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 6, 2026

    Ikiru is the film you seek

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  • Peter Albrechtsen @lydrummet.bsky.socialBluesky · Jun 5, 2026

    This tweet made me think of 10 excellent silences in film history: Ikiru (1952) Band of Outsiders (1964) Le Samouraï (1967) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Raging Bull (1980) Saving Private Ryan (1998) No Country for Old Men (2007) The Last Jedi (2017) Sound of Metal (2019) Memoria (2021)

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  • Boo-tros Boo-tros Ghoulish @dlbowman76.comBluesky · Apr 15, 2026

    Akira Kurosawa's IKIRU makes me sob like a wreck. It's a film about a profoundly good man who is dying, knows that he's dying, and he wants to do something that will last that will make life a bit better for a few people. Just thinking about it makes me choke up.

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  • caffeine anxiety ego death @mxdshipwreck.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 3, 2026

    no they're both the exact same movie as Ikiru

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  • Jordan @gm-jordan.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 23, 2026

    "You've inherited a movie theater - what's your first double feature?" Ikiru and Paddington 2. Y’all are gonna feel something.

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  • Chris will ramble about movies @outtothemovies.bsky.socialBluesky · Jan 2, 2026

    #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched: • Sinners brings cultural specificity to well-trodden genre • Somber yet hopeful Ikiru is the ideal New Year’s Day movie • Carol is perfect NYE watch. Blanchett Rooney Paulson! • Shari & Lamb Chop celebrates artist and her felt overlord #FilmSky

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  • 🎃HunkyKarras🎃/♑🇮🇪🇬🇧 @hunkykubrick.bsky.socialBluesky · Dec 20, 2025

    Picking a random film(documentary) from my collection to show off for no real reason! Day #38 I'm reminded of the end of Kurosawa's 'Ikiru' where a terminally cancer stricken Watanabe sings Life is Brief. Make of life as much as you can - that was Damo Suzuki! #Bluray #PhysicalMedia #Documentary

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  • YTSL @ytsl.bsky.socialBluesky · Nov 13, 2025

    "Ikiru" and "Madadayo" are the two Akira Kurosawa films I've not yet seen that I want to see. (I've viewed 16 of his directorial efforts thus far -- all on a big screen; mostly in Hong Kong though the first Akira Kurosawa film I ever saw, "Ran", I saw in London, England.)

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  • Darrell Clem @darrellclem.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 8, 2025

    Just watched IKIRU (Japanese, 1952), a stunning film that’s both shattering and uplifting. It explores end-of-life meaning, government bureaucracy, changing societal mores. The scene of an old man singing a somber song while sitting on a swing set in the snow is cinematic gold. #FilmSky #drama

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  • Jack @jacklikesfilms.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 19, 2025

    NW: Ikiru (1952, dir. Akira Kurosawa) #Filmsky 📽️ I enjoyed the Bill Nighy film 'Living' a Hell of a lot, but I'm led to believe this, the original, is still greatly superior. I think this is the one of Kurosawa's I've most been looking forward to finally seeing.

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  • Animated Antic @animatedantic.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 17, 2025

    "Like Kurosawa, I make mad films 'Kay, I don't make films But if I did they'd have a Samurai" This boy clearly thinks he's qualified to be a film expert if he thinks a film like Ikiru from Kurosawa is a mad film.

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  • Sanshin Soba- Yo Ki @sanshinsoba.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 19, 2025

    Hey! What'd you get from the Criterion sale? I could only afford one movie so I picked IKIRU.

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  • Joy🏳️‍⚧️⚢ @joysuperstar01.bsky.socialBluesky · Jun 21, 2026

    I just watched a film for the first time, & now my heart is full 💓 AMAZING film - Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru" (which translates to - 'To Live' in English) There's so much I want to say, but I don't want to spoil it for others... powerful, moving, and masterfully directed film. Terrible poster, tho🫣

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  • Darrell Clem @darrellclem.bsky.socialBluesky · Jun 6, 2025

    Ten Japanese films to get to know me by (still expanding my knowledge here) … -Seven Samurai -Audition (1999) -Ringu -Throne of Blood -Floating Weeds -Godzilla (1954, so much more than a monster film) -Kuroneko -Rashomon -Ikiru -Floating Clouds

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Official Trailer

Top Cast

Takashi Shimura actor profile photo
Takashi Shimura
Kanji Watanabe
Haruo Tanaka actor profile photo
Haruo Tanaka
Sakai
Nobuo Kaneko actor profile photo
Nobuo Kaneko
Mitsuo, son of Kanji
Bokuzen Hidari actor profile photo
Bokuzen Hidari
Ohara
Miki Odagiri actor profile photo
Miki Odagiri
Toyo
Shinichi Himori actor profile photo
Shinichi Himori
Kimura
Minoru Chiaki actor profile photo
Minoru Chiaki
Noguchi
Minosuke Yamada actor profile photo
Minosuke Yamada
Subordinate Clerk Saito

Cast from TMDB.

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