Ikiru

“For my birthday last year my girlfriend surprised me and screened this movie for me because I said it's my favorite movie and she invited a bunch of my friends. It was a big surprise party for me and it was one of the nicest things anybody's ever done for me. But it was for this movie. It was funny because all my friends showed up and they didn't know what we were watching and then they were like, 'Oh it's a two and a half hour movie about a guy dying of cancer' and I was like, 'Hey that's my...”

“So this was actually the first-ever Criterion Collection DVD that I got in Australia... This is my favorite Kurosawa film. I think it's one of his most watchable. If you've never seen it, of course you guys all have, but the people who've never been introduced to him, I often cite this film because it's such a human story. It's also a good Christmas tale, almost like a Christmas Carol, and just such a beautiful way of looking at life and someone's impact on other people's lives after their de...”

“Ikiru. Perhaps my favorite film. It just reminds me of something essential about life. What goodness is. And it has a very, very bold narrative structure of jumping forward at one moment and completely changing the way that the story is being told. Plus, just one of the great, great performances by an actor. Shimura in this is… just superlative.”

“I want to see Ikiru because...”

“[Translated] This is also Akira Kurosawa, Ikiru. When I was a child, my older brother came home from seeing this movie and told me the whole story while we were in bed. When I grew up and went to see it, the story unfolded exactly as my brother had told it. I was impressed by how well he remembered it.”