---
product_id: 20775210
title: "Ikiru (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]"
price: "Bs.744"
currency: BOB
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.bo/products/20775210-ikiru-the-criterion-collection-blu-ray
store_origin: BO
region: Bolivia
---

# Ikiru (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

**Price:** Bs.744
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Ikiru (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
- **How much does it cost?** Bs.744 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Description

One of the greatest achievements by Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai), Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of death. Takashi Shimura (Rashomon) beautifully portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer who is impelled to find meaning in his final days. Presented in a radically conceived two-part structure and shot with a perceptive, humanistic clarity of vision, Ikiru is a multifaceted look at what it means to be alive. Blu-Ray special edition features • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Audio commentary from 2004 by Stephen Prince, author of The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa • A Message from Akira Kurosawa (2000), a ninety-minute documentary produced by Kurosawa Productions and featuring interviews with Kurosawa • Documentary on Ikiru from 2003, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create, and featuring interviews with Kurosawa, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami, writer Hideo Oguni, actor Takashi Shimura, and others • Trailer • Essays by critic and travel writer Pico Iyer and critic Donald Richie.

Review: One of the best films ever made - One of the best films ever made. This is Kurosawa true masterpiece. His other films were bigger budget and had larger plots, and more prestigious casts, but there is no story that he ever told that tops this film he made early on in his career. It’s especially meaningful for Buddhists, so get it and take its message to heart
Review: The Greatest Film Ever Made - While I have not seen every movie made on the planet, I stand by the title of this review. I know of no other film which depicts so well what all human beings must go through: realizing their mortality - that no one lives forever, determine what to do with their lives, and accomplish what they decide. Few people truly follow through on all three steps, or are able to do so. What the director Akira Kurosawa further demonstrates, which almost no other film attempts, is how so few observing people understand what motivates particular individuals to do the great and good things they do and how these observers in turn should respond in like manner and get busy. As is so cogently shown in the film, most people do not, cannot, follow through on their own from the example of living they observed. This raises the film above mere entertainment. It is sermonizing and evangelism without the negative connotations those words normally carry. It is a parable worthy of the teachings of the wisest people on Earth, even those of Jesus. It is the most moral film I have ever seen. (Other reviews discuss the plot of the film quite well. Please take time to read them, if you wish. Sometimes a person's viewing pleasure is enhanced by not knowing in advance what is about to be seen. Just be sure to pay attention to what goes on in the film, for Akira Kurosawa does not spell things out or underline them for the viewer as do modern films from Hollywood. Repeated viewings of "Ikiru" may be needed to catch what the director/screenwriter sends your way.) This film, now a half-century old, still communicates this needed message of how "to live" with excellence. From the acting skills of all the players to the elliptical means of the story's presentation with its portrayal of multiple viewpoints (it's done so smoothly, with such assurance) to the use of camera placement and angles to the integration of music to the action depicted to the use of editing techniques (wipes, jump cuts and fade outs, as well as when NOT to use sound), this film displays its brilliance in all its 141 minutes of running time. (NB, the film should be 143 minutes long per Donald Richie, but I have never seen at the theater, on VHS or on DVD, a version of this film longer than 141 minutes. The original negative was destroyed in a Toho studio fire.) The tempo of the film may be slow for some viewers. Just relax, recalibrate the bio-rhythms and take in all that this terrific film has to offer. Note: the English subtitles on the video come from the 1960 Brandon Films release of this 1952 Japanese film into the United States. There are certain passages of dialogue that are not translated but would provide greater depth of understanding of the film if they had been. See Donald Richie's translation of the script, if possible. Revised subtitles with a newer, more complete translation, would be welcome.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN  | B0141RBHTU |
| Actors  | Takashi Shimura |
| Aspect Ratio  | 1.37:1 |
| Best Sellers Rank | #5,166 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV ) #709 in Drama Blu-ray Discs |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (773) |
| Director  | Akira Kurosawa |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer  | No |
| Item model number  | 35221442 |
| MPAA rating  | NR (Not Rated) |
| Media Format  | Blu-ray |
| Number of discs  | 1 |
| Product Dimensions  | 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 3.2 ounces |
| Release date  | November 24, 2015 |
| Run time  | 2 hours and 23 minutes |
| Studio  | Criterion Collection (Direct) |
| Subtitles:  | English |

## Product Details

- **Contributor:** Akira Kurosawa, Takashi Shimura
- **Format:** Blu-ray
- **Genre:** Drama
- **Language:** English
- **Runtime:** 2 hours and 23 minutes

## Images

![Ikiru (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/711RTqaA2FL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One of the best films ever made
*by M***S on November 12, 2025*

One of the best films ever made. This is Kurosawa true masterpiece. His other films were bigger budget and had larger plots, and more prestigious casts, but there is no story that he ever told that tops this film he made early on in his career. It’s especially meaningful for Buddhists, so get it and take its message to heart

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Greatest Film Ever Made
*by "***" on August 29, 2002*

While I have not seen every movie made on the planet, I stand by the title of this review. I know of no other film which depicts so well what all human beings must go through: realizing their mortality - that no one lives forever, determine what to do with their lives, and accomplish what they decide. Few people truly follow through on all three steps, or are able to do so. What the director Akira Kurosawa further demonstrates, which almost no other film attempts, is how so few observing people understand what motivates particular individuals to do the great and good things they do and how these observers in turn should respond in like manner and get busy. As is so cogently shown in the film, most people do not, cannot, follow through on their own from the example of living they observed. This raises the film above mere entertainment. It is sermonizing and evangelism without the negative connotations those words normally carry. It is a parable worthy of the teachings of the wisest people on Earth, even those of Jesus. It is the most moral film I have ever seen. (Other reviews discuss the plot of the film quite well. Please take time to read them, if you wish. Sometimes a person's viewing pleasure is enhanced by not knowing in advance what is about to be seen. Just be sure to pay attention to what goes on in the film, for Akira Kurosawa does not spell things out or underline them for the viewer as do modern films from Hollywood. Repeated viewings of "Ikiru" may be needed to catch what the director/screenwriter sends your way.) This film, now a half-century old, still communicates this needed message of how "to live" with excellence. From the acting skills of all the players to the elliptical means of the story's presentation with its portrayal of multiple viewpoints (it's done so smoothly, with such assurance) to the use of camera placement and angles to the integration of music to the action depicted to the use of editing techniques (wipes, jump cuts and fade outs, as well as when NOT to use sound), this film displays its brilliance in all its 141 minutes of running time. (NB, the film should be 143 minutes long per Donald Richie, but I have never seen at the theater, on VHS or on DVD, a version of this film longer than 141 minutes. The original negative was destroyed in a Toho studio fire.) The tempo of the film may be slow for some viewers. Just relax, recalibrate the bio-rhythms and take in all that this terrific film has to offer. Note: the English subtitles on the video come from the 1960 Brandon Films release of this 1952 Japanese film into the United States. There are certain passages of dialogue that are not translated but would provide greater depth of understanding of the film if they had been. See Donald Richie's translation of the script, if possible. Revised subtitles with a newer, more complete translation, would be welcome.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It's a Wonderful Ikiru
*by R***N on May 23, 2004*

I don't want to get carried away with comparisons but I couldn't help but compare "Ikiru" to It's a Wondersul Life". Each movie shows a man faced with a crisis who is forced to evaluate the meaning of his life. I suspect that most of us have seen "It's a Wonderful Life" in which the hero, George Bailey, discovers that his life has been far more meaningful than he ever realized. "Ikiru" shows us an opposite discovery for its' hero, Kanji Wantanabe, a widower. He is a mid-level bureaucrat who discovers that he has a terminal disease. As he contemplates the meaning of it all, he remembers a joke he heard at the office in which the value of his work is mocked. Has his life amounted to anything? In a poingnant series of flashbacks to his earlier life, we see a number of scenes that tell us of the two relationships in his life. We sense the sudden loss of his wife but it is the marvelously created scenes of his fading relationship with his son that touches us the deepest. I'm not sure I've seen many more touching scenes that the one at the train station when his son goes off to war. Thus his life has failed at relationships and at his professional career. What can he do with the time he has left? The answer comes from a young lady who works at his office and is wonderfully played by an actress who, I'm sorry to say, was not identified (in English) on the cast and credits. Wantanabe realizes that he still has time to do something with his life and goes about trying to do just that. I won't say anymore about the plot because the beauty of the movie is watching things come together. As a matter of fact, the way the director moves about in time allows us to piece the puzzle together retrospectively. The funeral is where we learn of the success and the different, often self-centered, perspectives add to the impact of the message. The ending is a reminder to us all that we can choose whether or not we, too, want to make a difference. However, just saying so doesn't count. The director, Akira Kurosawa, has created another masterpiece of the human spirit. The acting is very well done. Takashi Shimura seemed to me, at times, to be too detached from his role. However, I came to realize that he was acting the role of a man who was too detached from life itself. This is a film worth seeing. Unlike "It's a Wonderful Life" we don't come away feeling that life's a celebration. Instead, we come away realizing that life's a responsibility. Amen.

## Frequently Bought Together

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*Last updated: 2026-02-26*