Ikiru

Impactful, heartbreaking and inspiring. One of the most crucial to watch movies ever in my opinion. Takashi Shiruma is just fantastic. He conveys the regret of a life unfulfilled and not lived, as well as the longing to have something to show for all his years, something meaningful, incredibly with his expressions. That moment when people start singing happy birthday as he finds his will and purpose is so brilliant. The entire third act of this is a masterpiece of its own: seeing all these shallow minded bureaucrats dismiss his values and determination before slowly realizing and admiring their importance and yet, nothing changes, lives keep slipping away without meaning. It’s so powerful. “How tragic that a man can never realize how beautiful life is until he’s faced with death.”