STREAM ANYTIME with Prime Video from $14.99

$29.32

& FREE Returns

FREE delivery: Sunday, April 18 Details

Fastest delivery: Friday, April 16
Order within 8 hrs and 18 mins Details

In Stock.

$$29.32 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from	Amazon.com
Sold by	Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: This item is returnable

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Other Sellers on Amazon

$29.31
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Deep_Discount_Entertainment

$29.34
+ $5.51 shipping

Sold by: Green Orbit

$44.23
+ $5.99 shipping

Sold by: M + L

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available
To view this video download Flash Player

Ikiru (the Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Criterion Collection

Takashi Shimura (Actor), Akira Kurosawa (Director) Rated:

Format: Blu-ray

429 ratings

Amazon's Choice for "kurosawa criterion"

List Price:	$39.95 Details
With Deal:	$29.32 & FREE Returns Return this item for free Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges Learn more about free returns. How to return the item? Go to your orders and start the return Select the return method Ship it!
You Save:	$10.63 (27%)

Additional Multi-Format options

Edition

Discs

Price

New from

Used from

Multi-Format
November 24, 2015

"Please retry"

Criterion Collection

$29.32

$29.31

$29.26

Watch Instantly with

Rent

Buy

Ikiru (English Subtitled)

$3.99

$14.99

Enhance your purchase

Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $88.11

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:Ikiru (the Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] by Takashi Shimura Blu-ray $29.32
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details
Seven Samurai (the Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] by Toshirô Mifune Blu-ray $30.95
Only 20 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by westcoastmedia and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
FREE Shipping. Details
Rashomon (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] by Toshiro Mifune Blu-ray $27.84
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Toshirô Mifune
4,048
Blu-ray
$30.95
Toshiro Mifune
224
Blu-ray
$27.99
Toshiro Mifune
805
Blu-ray
$27.94
Tatsuya Nakadai
1,530
Blu-ray
$14.99
Toshiro Mifune
395
Blu-ray
$38.55
Toshiro Mifune
586
Blu-ray
$46.71

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Toshiro Mifune
224
Blu-ray
$27.99
Toshiro Mifune
285
Blu-ray
$27.84
Toshiro Mifune
395
Blu-ray
$38.55
Toshiro Mifune
805
Blu-ray
$27.94
Toshirô Mifune
528
Blu-ray
$49.94
Toshirô Mifune
4,048
Blu-ray
$30.95

Special offers and product promotions

Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now
Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account

Editorial Reviews

One of the greatest achievements by Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai), Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of death. Takashi Shimura (Rashomon) beautifully portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer who is impelled to find meaning in his final days. Presented in a radically conceived two-part structure and shot with a perceptive, humanistic clarity of vision, Ikiru is a multifaceted look at what it means to be alive. Blu-Ray special edition features • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Audio commentary from 2004 by Stephen Prince, author of The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa • A Message from Akira Kurosawa (2000), a ninety-minute documentary produced by Kurosawa Productions and featuring interviews with Kurosawa • Documentary on Ikiru from 2003, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create, and featuring interviews with Kurosawa, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami, writer Hideo Oguni, actor Takashi Shimura, and others • Trailer • Essays by critic and travel writer Pico Iyer and critic Donald Richie.

Product details

Aspect Ratio : 1.37:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
MPAA rating : s_medNotRated NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions : 7 x 5.25 x 0.5 inches; 3.2 Ounces
Item model number : 35221442
Director : Akira Kurosawa
Media Format : Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Run time : 2 hours and 23 minutes
Release date : November 24, 2015
Actors : Takashi Shimura
Subtitles: : English
Studio : Criterion Collection (Direct)
ASIN : B0141RBHTU
Number of discs : 1

Best Sellers Rank: #6,400 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #39 in Foreign Films (Movies & TV)
- #706 in Drama Blu-ray Discs

Customer Reviews:
429 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		90%
4 star		6%
3 star		2%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

patrick collins

Yes, but is it entertaining?

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have nothing against Akira Kurosawa or his movies, but until very recently I had avoided his work like the plague. Why? Well, it comes down to the fact that the only people who ever bring him up are, without exception, crashing bores. They’re the smug film studies types who dismiss your enjoyment of The Magnificent Seven with some variation on the self satisfied “um actually, I preferred it in the original Japanese” put down. But lockdown can make a person do strange things. Psychologists are saying there’s a rise in eccentric behaviour such as singing loudly, wearing odd clothing, and watching black and white subtitled movies.

We often don’t expect much from old films, the acting is theatrical and unnatural by today’s standards, the pacing and editing are a lot slower than we’re used to, and the stories often hinge on some outdated notions about race, sexuality, or gender which (for me at least) hinder whatever entertainment might be had. Imagine my surprise then at being utterly floored by this seventy year old subtitled film, I guess my dude Kurosawa had some skills after all.

Smarter people than me have written yards of intelligent things about Ikiru, and I’m sure that some of what they say is even legitimate, but the truth is I don’t really care about any of that. I only care that I’m not bored or annoyed by a movie, that it actively tries to engage me, and that it strives to tells its story well. Whatever else one might say about Ikiru, it more than succeeds on all those fronts, pulling you in to Watanabe’s journey right from the first frame. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, poetic, devoid of easy sentiment or answers, features some truly astonishing acting- quite simply Ikiru is a marvel. Maybe it’s the paucity of new movies talking, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I watched it.

On a side note, I rarely cry at films- and when I do it’s almost always when I watch a touchstone movie from my childhood, like E.T. or The Iron Giant, and even then I’m not crying because of the movie, I’m really crying for my lost inner snowflake or whatever. Well I was a snotty mess at the end of this film, bawling my eyes out like a toddler crying for it’s bottle. See this movie. You will not regret it!

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mary Ann Kates

How to be a Human Being

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

life is brief.
fall in love, maidens
before the crimson bloom
fades from your lips
before the tides of passion
cool within you,
for those of you
who know no tomorrow

life is brief
fall in love, maidens
before his hands
take up his boat
before the flush of his cheeks fades
for those of you
who will never return here

life is brief
fall in love, maidens
before the boat drifts away
on the waves
before the hand resting on your shoulder
becomes frail
for those who will never
be seen here again

life is brief
fall in love, maidens
before the raven tresses
begin to fade
before the flame in your hearts
flicker and die
for those to whom today
will never return

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Wonderful Movie

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

An amazing movie. It quickly became one of my favorites. The story of a bureaucrat in post war Japan dying of cancer and doing something with the rest of his life might not sound like a great movie, but the story really does stir the emotions, and the pace and story are given in a nonlinear format that really works well for the film. You understand how the dying man feels, and you see how it inspires him to do something that will be helpful to the rest of the people. It is extremely touching, very well directed and acted, and just an interesting and great movie.

24 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tessering

Exquisitely Beautiful Movie!

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

This movie is one of my absolute favorites---it is exquisitely beautiful and meaningful and is definitely worth a look.
What makes life meaningful? What does it mean to live--- "ikiru"-- in Japanese?
Incredibly touching, this movie might just change your life. Watch it---you will not be sorry.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Christina Reynolds

A sob story on paper...

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

Marking the first collaborative effort between Akira Kurosawa and Hideo Oguni whilst being partly inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒗𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒄𝒉’, Ikiru (生きる, "To Live") is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa and starring Takashi Shimura. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat named Kanji Watanabe and his final quest for meaning.

Initiated with an x-ray of Watanabe’s stomach and an exclamation of his looming misfortune: there is no interest here in hoarding surprises, nor does ‘Ikiru’ award itself with any room for optimistic plot twists. A tad unorthodox with its depths of honesty - and by some measures, rushed - a certainty of death informally exonerates Kanji from his immediate responsibilities and lingering tethers.

This x-ray may be clear enough, but this primary character stays largely mysterious during Ikiru’s primary act. Viewers are reminded persistently about his complacency in terms of his mortality - "𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅" - and the impression delivered is that there's little about his existence that is remarkable or escapes tediousness outside of a significant loss and his role as a paternal figure. Through flashbacks and vignettes of interactions that inch on being dramatically ironic it is made clear that much of his worth is tied closely to his financial status while it is simultaneously implied that he is very easily replaced (hold that thought). It doesn't surprise me that the view audience members have of Watanabe is originally obscured beyond repair: what else can we expect from a man isolated and so far removed from the understanding he has of himself?

At surface level ‘Ikiru’ seems to have a completely anti-bureaucratic message, but I'm actually not fully convinced that this is Kurosawa’s intention. If I could vacate this review for a moment (and be humored), I have an analogy to interject.
As I watch the interactions taking place in Watanabe’s place of occupancy (More specifically, one in which a group of women voice their frustrations over being given “the run-around”) I find myself looking back on a majority of the interactions I have ever had previously with any institution involving Public Welfare. These offices? They're chaotic. But they have an order. The work? Endless. Moments of relief? They never last. Employees? There's plenty. But there's never enough…. and they often come in three flavors: newly-hired, almost retired, and nearly expired. There's a hierarchy. But there's not. There's goals. There's hidden agendas. For every five failures or hiccups…. there's at least one opportunity for success.
And even when there isn't an opportunity for success: there is a way to make a living.
My point here being this: It’s likely that Kurosawa doesn’t mean to villainize any one character in this film or aimlessly demonize the system in which they are involved. These bureaucrats - including our main character - are akin to cogs inside of a poorly maintained machine; the 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 they have to operate efficiently or beneficially is often constrained and compromised by a combination of forces (greed and procedural shortcomings being at least two) as opposed to one being solely responsible.

Even during the climax - a conversation in which Watanabe’s co-workers obsessively pull apart his motives - this tendency seems to drive much of the dialogue. There is a desire to point fingers. There is a desire to take credit. All the while - our main character's quest for meaning is made possible through an ultimately and intimately 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 effort even if it does start as an assumedly solitary one. Moreover - these bureaucrats get closer to making sense of their deceased co-workers “bizarre behavior” the further they sink into an alcoholic stupor and thus temporarily suspending the rigid nature of their mundane and ritualistically performative realities.
Coincidence?
I think not.

On paper ‘Ikiru’ Is a bit of a sob story. An entourage of self-pity avoids being insufferable by an infusion of elements reminiscent of redemption. In the final minutes spent with Watanabe he lulls himself to rest with a ballad inspired by the fleeting nature of youth.

In this moment I imagine a caterpillar entering the next stage of its life.

Here is a man peacefully folding under the weight of reformation.

Here is a man anticipating a moment defined by the ability to take flight.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Keith M

Misfortune Leads To Truth

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

So says Yunosuke Ito's exuberant (and drunk) Writer (a 'soul-saving Mephistopheles') to Takashi Shimura's 'doomed' widow and bureaucrat Mr Watanabe, the latter who has recently learned he has only a matter of months to live (despite the duplicitous mumblings of doctors) due to stomach cancer. This brilliantly perceptive, low-key, non-period 1952 drama co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa is a morally complex, reflective tale (at times satirical) of a man's (final) confrontation with his place in the world, with all its mundanity and cruel deceptions.

Of course, at the centre of Ikiru is a bravura performance from Kurosawa-regular Shimura, whose sudden realisation of his own mortality drives him, first, in search of some short-term hedonism and then later to seek some form of personal 'lasting' redemption. Shimura`s turn here is mesmerising and moving (the man's eyes staring straight to camera create an unforgettable image) as he is gradually transformed from a fawning, 'manner-driven', regretful 'bean-counter' mired in a job of government bureaucracy to a determined 'doer', who will let nothing (and no-one) stand in the way of his final ambition (the construction of a new children's playground - a proposal initially frustrated by his own government department). Along the way Kurosawa caustically satirises Watanabe's society - from the government 'wastrels' passing papers (and the buck) between departments in order to avoid responsibility (an environment which Watanabe has tolerated for 30 years), the scheming, glory-seeking deputy mayor (superbly played by Nobuo Nakamura), the cowardly, misdiagnosing hospital doctors, Watanabe's uncaring and mercenary son and daughter-in-law and even the (ultimately craven) organised criminals who attempt to scupper the 'liberated bureaucrat's` playground plan.

Throughout, Kurosawa's eye for perceptive social detail is unfailing. Watanabe's encounters with the two 'positive' characters, Ito's Writer and Miki Odagiri's kindly young (ex-)co-worker, Toyo, are brilliantly observed - the former an irrepressibly positive philosopher, who warns Watanabe against chasing 'loose' women ('These girls are the greediest of all mammals') and whose encounter includes Watanabe's memorable and moving night-club rendition of an old romantic song, and the latter, whose bubbly personality and friendliness (for example, during the endearing scene in which she tells Watanabe about the nicknames ascribed to his work colleagues, including his, The Mummy) allows her to, at least temporarily, overcome her embarrassment at being seen 'socialising' with 'an old man'.

The other masterstroke Kurosawa employed for Ikiru was his idea for the film's final 40 or so minutes - an extended wake for Watanabe, after his passing, at which a gathering of family and work associates (including the deputy mayor) reflect on the deceased's achievements during the final stages of his life. This satirical exchange is almost Bunuelian in its sense of surreal parody, as the attendees, increasingly drunk and tearful, modify their perceptions of their erstwhile colleague (via a series of flashbacks revealing the true course of events) from 'interfering busybody' to an iconic and heroic figure that all should attempt to emulate. That Kurosawa makes it clear that no such thing is likely to follow as Watanabe's co-workers return to their 'old ways', whilst we are left with the sight of the 'newly redeemed' swinging (on a child's swing) amidst the falling snow in memorable self-satisfaction, provides a poignant, if resignedly realistic, ending to one of the great films of Japanese cinema.

3 people found this helpful

Mr.J.Bleakley.

Hi well i am not a film critic but like to thonk i know something about it as its ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2015

Verified Purchase

Hi well i am not a film critic but like to thonk i know something about it as its a, complex, subject i take a g8t deal of interest in. Kurosawa( "7 Samurai").is a legend of cinema. Besides "7 Samurai " their are many other wonderfull films of his set in medieval Japan. He also explored more contemporary times in film of which "Ikiru"(Living) is an example. Kurosawa is an "art house" director which in my opinion is the highest form of the cinematic art. This is a-bit of!-a specialist area. This can put people of; thinking its to difficult. ,On first encountering art house cinema yrs ago, I recall being struck by how accessible they were; and,not being mediated thru the Hollywood star system,so REAL This film, in my opion, is undoubtedly an example of the ART of cinema at its best.

One person found this helpful

MR C.

A truly unique and moving expression of the purpose and meaning of life

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2014

Verified Purchase

I had watched this film on television about 40 years ago late one night when my parents had gone to bed. I would have been in my mid-teens and it made a significant impact on me at the time. There was nothing pretentious or art house in my appreciation of it. If anything it was its simplicity and lack of pretention that appealed to me. A man coming to terms with his rapidly approaching death, after trying self-pity and excessive indulgence in the pleasures that he had denied himself all his life for the sake of his son, finally decides to do just one significant thing before he dies and obstinately and patiently carries out his goal despite all the obstacles placed in his way, including petty bureaucracy, political corruption and threats from gangsters. I had more or less forgotten about this film until it came up in a discussion I had with my wife a few weeks ago. I thought I would get a copy so that we could watch it together. I was amazed by the negative review that I read here and wondered if my memory could have got it so wrong. I ordered it, it arrived yesterday and we watched it together last night. We both found it incredibly moving and we didn't even notice how long it was until we looked at the clock. The scene where Watanabe starts singing in the bar is particularly heart-wrenching. But more than that it raises so many questions about so many issues that we haven't stopped talking about it. For example, it's too easy to see Watanabe's son as unfeeling and insensitive to his father but, as the young girl who Watanabe pursues says, his son didn't ask him to turn himself into a 'mummy' for his sake and the end of the film leaves me feeling desperately sorry for the son's remorse. Are parents necessarily doing their children a favour when they sacrifice so much for them? It is true that some of the acting seems a little odd to someone used to English and American films, but if you make allowances for this it comes over as a truly unique and moving expression of the purpose and meaning of life. I can understand why Spielberg says that it is his favourite film (although I would have serious misgivings about an American re-make) and I would encourage anyone and everyone to watch it. If you don't like it you won't have lost much, but you will probably love it and if you do you will have gained a lot.

5 people found this helpful

PresterJohn

One of Kurosawa's finest films.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2009

Verified Purchase

This was Kurosawa at the height of his powers and this film is frequently rated among the fifty best films ever made. I have watched it three times and each time find something else to marvel at. Given the time of it's production (early 1950's) the cinematic quality is both innovative and inspiring. The theme derives from everyday working life but it's presentation will move you to your core. In my view, an essential purchase for the cineaste.

One person found this helpful

M. Bartlett

The meaning of life and more..

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

One of the best films of all time. This faces issues of life and mortality in such a beautiful and moving way. Really memorable images. Not to be missed.

One person found this helpful

See all reviews

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: criterion movie, the criterion