IKIRU (1952) - (The Criterion Collection - #221) [2 DVD9s] [2004]

Considered by some to be Akira Kurosawa’s greatest achievement, Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of a man’s death. Takashi Shimura portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. Told in two parts, Ikiru offers Watanabe’s quest in the present, and then through a series of flashbacks. The result is a multifaceted look at a life through a prism of perspectives, resulting in a full portrait of a man who lacked understanding from others in life.




MOVIE:
DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
COUNTRY: Japan
YEAR: 1952


Cast & Credits

Cast
Kanji Watanabe Takashi Shimura
Mitsuo Watanabe Nobuo Kaneko
Kazue Watanabe Kyoko Seki
Kiichi Watanabe Makoto Kobori
Tatsu Watanabe Kumeko Urabe
The maid Yoshie Minami
Toyo Odagiri Miki Odagiri
Ono Kamatari Fujiwara
Saito Minosuke Yamada
Sakai Haruo Tanaka
Obara Bokuzen Hidari
Kimura Shinichi Himori
Deputy mayor Nobuo Nakamura
City assemblyman Kazuo Abe
Doctor Masao Shimizu
Intern Ko Kimura
Patient Atsushi Watanabe
Novelist Yunosuke Ito
Hostess Yatsuko Tanami
Newspaperman Fuyuki Murakami
Gang boss Seiji Miyaguchi
Gang member Daisuke Kato
Policeman Ichiro Chiba
Housewives Kin Sugai
Housewives Eiko Miyoshi
Housewives Fumiko Homma

Credits
Director Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni and Akira Kurosawa
Producer Shojiro Motoki
Cinematography Asakazu Nakai
Art director So Matsuyama
Lighting Shigeru Mori
Sound Fumio Yanoguchi
Music Fumio Hayasaka







DVD:
DVD RELEASE: January 6, 2004
STUDIO: Criterion
CATALOG: 221
SYSTEM: NTSC
SCREEN: 1.33:1
BLACK AND WHITE
AUDIO: Japanese Dolby Digital Mono
SUBTITLES: English
RUNTIME (MOVIE): 143 minutes





EXTRACTION:
ENGINE: DVD Decrypter
DVD: 2 Full Dual-Layer DVD
FILE EXTENSION: Image (.ISO) + MDS file
FILE SIZE: 13.24 GB (7.56 GB + 5.68 GB)
SCANS HQ PDF(800 DPI): 23.3 MB

INFO:

CRITERION
AMAZON
WIKIPEDIA
IMDB

Disc Features

* New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound
* Audio commentary by Stephen Prince, author of The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa
* A Message from Akira Kurosawa (2000): a 90-minute documentary produced by Kurosawa Productions and featuring interviews with the director on the set of his later films
* A 41-minute documentary on Ikiru from the series, Akira Kurosawa: To Create Is Beautiful, including interviews with Akira Kurosawa, writer Hideo Oguni, actor Takashi Shimura, and many others
* Original theatrical trailer
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition