Take this Ikiru quiz to find out which character from Ikiru you are. Answer these quick questions to find out. Play it now!
It’s no secret to the old man that he’s dying of cancer. “I don’t know what to do with my money.” He tells a complete stranger in a bar.
Still wearing his coat and hat, he asks the piano player for “Life Is Short—Fall in Love, Dear Maiden.”
But he plays it, and then the elderly man begins to sing. But the bar falls silent as the party girls and intoxicated salarymen reflect on their own brief lives.
This scene occurs in the middle of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film “Ikiru,” about a bureaucrat who works at Tokyo City Hall for 30 years and never accomplishes a single thing throughout that time. The newly-minted chief of his section, Mr. Watanabe, sits at his desk with a stack of papers on either side and shelves filled with numerous more documents.
In reality, his job is to stamp each document to demonstrate that he has touched it, which he does by using a small rubber stamp.
X-ray of Watanabe’s chest opens the picture. Narrator: “He has gastric cancer, but hasn’t realized it yet.” “He is a drifter who lives his life in a state of apathy. Actually, he is scarcely able to breathe.”
Ikiru quiz
In the Public Affairs section of city hall, Kanji Watanabe is a meager Section Chief who stamps documents and adds to towers of infinite paperwork, entangling himself in bureaucracy. His subordinates call him “The Mummy” in reference to his icy demeanor. Women from the community approach Watanabe, asking for help in cleaning up and replacing a local sump with a park. Also, you must try to play this Ikiru quiz.
A bureaucrat, Watanabe’s existence is useless until he discovers that he has only six months to live. Takashi Shimura, who plays Watanabe in Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru, discovers his own feeling of affirmation in the days leading up to his death. He vows to turn his administrative position from one of hollow officialdom to one of proactive decision-making in his final, passionate deed.
After decades of helping to sustain Japan’s postwar structure, Watanabe swears to unite the municipal bureaucracy to clean up the stagnant pool of filthy, mosquito-infested water and create a park where children can play safely. Thus, he gives his existence some meaning and discovers what it means to be alive.
Yojimbo and Sanjuro, both pseudo-Westerns set in feudal Japan and inspired by American director John Ford, are among Kurosawa’s most western works. It lacks the samurai appeal of his earlier works, but it does communicate in a universal language of humanity, which is what makes Ikiru so appealing. In Japan, Kinema Junpo, an academic cinema publication, rated it the year’s greatest picture.
About the quiz
Many sources and texts are used in Kurosawa’s films. Western themes like Dostoevsky and Faust are combined with Eastern concepts such as Zen or the Bushido Samurai Code in Ikiru. Kurosawa explains Ikiru’s beginnings by saying, “Sometimes I ponder about my own mortality.” I consider ceasing to be… Ikiru was born out of these thoughts.” Hayasaka was also suffering from tuberculosis at the time of Ikiru’s production. Hayasaka composed music for several Kurosawa films and was also a close friend of Kurosawa’s.
A man’s spirit might be demonstrated by dying for his job, Hayasaka wrote in a letter to Kurosawa. Some believe Ikiru’s evolution was inspired by real-life events.
When Kanji Watanabe is approaching death, he realizes that he has lived a pointless life, or perhaps that he hasn’t really lived at all. Indeed, Watanabe has designed his life in such a way as to avoid passion and activity…. Takashi Shimura plays Watanabe, who is often shown in an office setting, which emphasizes his physical and emotional absence throughout the film. When the protagonist learns of Watanabe’s terminal illness, it shocks him and causes him to despair.
Watanabe abandons his previous existence and embarks on a quest to find a way to live life to the fullest. In a riotous scene of nighttime partying, he investigates the instant gratification of the senses. Family relationships are his main source of support, as well as closeness. Unbeknownst to him, a young coworker appears to hold the key to his desperate quest for life.
For more personality quizzes check this: The Hunt Quiz.
