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Ikiru (1952)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Cinematography by Asakazu Nakai

143 min65 frames

Drama

A big story of a little man which will grip your soul...

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Stills, screencaps & shots from Ikiru

16 of 65 frames — the full set is searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, color and mood with a free account.

Ikiru (1952) movie still: establishing — A dark, cluttered desk is covered in tall stacks of bundled files and paperwork. The background wall is…Ikiru (1952) movie still: establishing — A traditional Japanese house with tiled roofs and a gated entrance at night. Rain falls in front of the…Ikiru (1952) movie still: closeup — A dark indoor setting features a man with a mustache looking toward an interlocutor. The man's face is…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — A crowded restaurant interior features decorative lattice wall patterns and tables with flower arrangements. A…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — A top-down view shows a room with a distinct cubic geometric tile floor pattern. A man plays an upright piano…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — An interior office space features a wall board with text and textured wallpaper. Two men in suits look toward an…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — A dark, wet playground at night features a large, geometric metal jungle gym. A man sits motionless inside the…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — A cluttered office filled with towering stacks of paperwork and filing boxes. An official sits behind a desk…Ikiru (1952) movie still: closeup — A dark, dimly lit indoor space with low-key illumination on a man's face. The man wears a fedora and a suit…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — A woman stands inside a small glass phone booth during the day. She speaks into a vintage telephone receiver…Ikiru (1952) movie still: closeup — A close-up shot of an East Asian man inside a dimly lit interior room. The man faces slightly to the right with…Ikiru (1952) movie still: wide — A crowded dance hall features a polished grand piano on a checkered floor. A man in a decorative jacket plays the…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — Two men in hats and coats stand on an elevated outdoor platform at twilight. Overhead power lines crisscross…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — A dark wooden establishment features a wall poster with Japanese calligraphy and ceramic bottles. Two men sit at…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — An interior funeral service features a central framed photograph surrounded by floral arrangements and lanterns.…Ikiru (1952) movie still: medium — A traditional Japanese room features a low wooden table and tatami mat flooring. An older man in a suit looks at…
Ikiru (1952) — © TOHO

Ikiru — official trailer

What is Ikiru about?

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.

Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning. The screenplay was partly inspired by Leo Tolstoy's 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

Second paragraph from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where can you watch Ikiru?

US availability for Ikiru (1952). Data by JustWatch, listings on TMDB. Availability changes — check the provider for current listings.

Who stars in Ikiru?

Who made Ikiru?

What does the cinematography of Ikiru look like?

Across 65 sampled frames, Ikiru builds its coverage from medium shots (60% of the sample), with close-ups (23%) carrying much of the rest. Cinematographer Asakazu Nakai keeps 43% of it in soft, low-key light. 51% of the frames play at night or in the failing light of dusk. Vintage glass shapes the frame. Focus stays shallow in 62% of the frames, isolating subjects from their surroundings. The production design places the film in the 1950s.

What is the color palette of Ikiru?

The dominant colors across the sampled frames of Ikiru (1952) are #030303, #898989, #cacaca, #fbfbfb, #2f2f2f, #464646 — measured from the per-frame color data FrameThrower extracts for every film.

  • #030303
  • #898989
  • #cacaca
  • #fbfbfb
  • #2f2f2f
  • #464646

See the full Ikiru colour palette — every hex with its share, plus warmth, saturation and luminance.

Ikiru ranks in

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Techniques in this film

More films by Akira Kurosawa

Cast, trailer and streaming data from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.