Kurosawa on the Human Condition: A Technical Film Analysis
Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s legacy and iconic style gave birth to some of our most beloved filmmakers and genres. In one of his most iconic films, Ikiru (1956), Kurosawa explores the human condition in the form of a dying man seeking purpose and release in his last moments.
Using three of his signature elements — the 90º two-shot, the faraway look, and the use of weather as a narrative tool — , Kurosawa creates a visual masterpiece in his effort to answer what it means to be alive.
As can be seen in fig.1 (00:14:37), Kurosawa uses the 90º two-shot to physically show Watanabe’s reluctance at knowing the truth. The scene above shows Kanji Watanabe as it dawns on him that he may be suffering from a fatal sickness. The scene begins with Watanabe making small talk with another patient as he waits for his X-ray results. The man tells him that he too is suffering from stomach issues.
When another man is called away, the stranger confesses that he believes the man has stomach cancer which he states, “is practically a death sentence,” (00:13: 44). Watanabe grows more uneasy with each word and adopts that signature Kurosawa faraway look as he turns his back to the man. It’s almost as if Watanabe wants to get as far away as possible from the man and turn his back physically and metaphorically from the harsh truth.
The shot also saves time from having to cut back and forth and shows two emotions at once as Kurosawa does with the anxious state of Watanabe and relaxed state of the strange man.
Throughout the film, Watanabe spends several moments in contemplation searching through the past for answers to how he ended up in a situation where he died long before he received his fatal diagnosis. This can be seen with a series of faraway looks such as that of fig.3 (00:16:18). The frightened look comes after having been told by his doctor that he has a mild ulcer in his stomach. He’s no fool. He knows what this means. He has stomach cancer and is on borrowed time.
Watanabe then looks off camera, turning his back yet again on the doctor as he did with the stranger in the waiting room. Kurosawa uses the faraway look shot to emphasize the psychological taxation this diagnosis is having on Watanabe and the immense regret and guilt that now burdens him. Kurosawa gives Watanabe a moment for the news to settle and to contemplate on it. He often does this in many of his films.
Weather is as natural as death and Kurosawa uses this element as a narrative tool to reflect the emotions of our protagonist.
In fig.3 (1:49:15), we see Watanabe outside after having just announced that he would be building a park in the community. Behind him are the women who voiced their grievances at the beginning of the film. He walks forward knowing this is his last shot at an act of kindness and a way to break out of the bureaucratic hamster wheel that traps many in a miserable existence.
With this newfound sense of purpose, he feels alleviated of the burden and guilt at having played a hand in the deterioration of his community. As that internal dam breaks, so does the rain that cascades around him. It is like a sigh of relief signaled by nature itself. Relief that he finally found purpose in his last moments. Weather is therefore used to add visual texture and offer an alternative type of insight into the protagonist’s thoughts and emotions that goes far beyond any piece of dialogue.
While these shots and narrative tools are now seen as standard film practices, they were once staples of this ingenious filmmaker responsible for reshaping and expanding the visual language of films. Before all the modern greats and lauded favorites, first came Kurosawa. The man that inspired generations of iconic auteurs with visual languages of their own.
