Ikiru
Tokyo, 2006

A film about social change with a commentary on society was not what I expected - based on what I had read briefly about the film. However, the audio commentary by Stephen Prince was quite educative in helping me understand this film – fulfilling the purpose Francois Truffaut gave to film critics.

The ultimate objective of social activists would be for humanity (or a nation) to embody such principles as they think are appropriate. Gandhi believed in non-violence – he did not approve when people violated the peaceful tenets he believed Indians should embody. It was not enough that his immediate followers would much rather put down their lives than resort to violence. He wanted ‘all of India’ to embody the principles of non-violence. I remain in awe of Gandhi, who, until his last breath, believed in the possibility of this. Ordinary people would have given up – disappointed by the setbacks. Not the ‘Mahatma’. In spite of my awe for Gandhi, I wonder if mass social change can be driven by one person and his / her actions. Ikiru provides extremely compelling thoughts on this subject. It is suggested that social change as a result of one person and his / her actions has restricted coverage. My extension of this thought is that if attempted beyond this coverage, the actions would either fail to achieve the desired results or the objectives will have to be compromised. For mass social change to become a reality, many people, from different walks of life but similar thoughts on social changes, have to co-incidentally come together to form a critical mass. a person can only be ‘one’ of the agents driving this change. Sometimes, extreme co-incidences happen – like the post war years in Japan. The most one can do is work sincerely and earnestly towards bringing a social change in his / her immediate environment – and hope for providence to play a part in creating a critical mass. It may happen. It may not. The only way to know is to play your ‘part’.

Kurosawa is an extremely intelligent director. Watching a Kurosawa film, one is transported to a world of ideas, of motion, of all the aspects of cinema. He is a master and all I can do is watch more of his films and repeat the ones I have already seen.