 |
| Source: Wikipedia |
What a wakeup call. The man realizes he's felt dead for thirty years, embalmed in dreary routine since his wife kicked it. He gets his first day off, and he doesn't know what to do with it. The title means "To Live," implying he's not very good at it.
Enjoying life is tough when you're uncomfortable in your own wrinkly skin. This guy has difficulty finishing sentences or even maintaining eye contact.
The amazing human raisin hits the nightlife -- not his scene. Undeterred, he hits up a vibrant young female coworker, annoying her till she shares the secret of her seeming happiness: meaningful work. Making stuff you like.
So he returns to dreary drudgery, not disappointed, but transformed. Ready to make a difference in the community. Never before has anybody not running for office taken civil government so seriously. After six months of badgering and one cesspool turned into a public park, he's succeeded at life and subsequently croaks.
The last third is odd. Another stroke of Kurosawa's ineffable genius. Unlike the other "sudden transformation" plots I've seen, this is the first that delves into the befuddlement of family and peers over the sudden transformation. The thoroughly inebriated coworkers decide he didn't know he had cancer. The estranged son and his bitchy wife, who never listened to him anyway, realize he had something important to tell them (I'M DYING) but didn't because they wouldn't listen.
Apparently it requires the threat of immanent death to prompt wheedling, whinging losers to become proactive people who get work done. (Hope you ain't getting any ideas outta this, boss.) Otherwise folks remain entrenched in selfish shortsightedness. Even if his coworkers don't care, the community ladies are profoundly grateful.
Suitably, the depressed and depressing man's favorite song is an old ditty called "Life is Brief." Seize the day, or it'll slip away like a greased hog, and probably defecate on your shoes.
No comments:
Post a Comment