Watch Ikiru

The focus of Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru is Kanji Watanabe, a small-town bureaucrat who finds out that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Watanabe, having led a fairly uninspired life, finds himself at a loss of what to do given his current predicament. Unable to discuss his health situation with his family, he decides to throw himself headlong into his work with a revitalized enthusiasm. Watanabe works hard at finding meaning in his, now rapidly waning, life. The film aptly depicts life in all its potential beauty, achievement, and wonder, as well as its moments of desperation and internal struggle.

Ikiru is a 1952 drama with a runtime of 2 hours and 23 minutes. It has received poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 8.3 and a MetaScore of 91.

Where to Watch Ikiru

Ikiru is available to watch free on Kanopy. It's also available to stream, download and buy on demand at HBO Max, Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube VOD and Vudu. Some platforms allow you to rent Ikiru for a limited time or purchase the movie and download it to your device.