Desire for Life is a 143-minute drama film produced and distributed by Toho Pictures in Japan. Directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Joe Shimura, co-starring Shiki Chiaki, Fujiwara Kazushi, Kaneko Nobuo, and Noburo Nakamura, the film was released in Japan on October 9, 1952. The film tells the story of a terminally ill chief of the Civic Section who ended his thirty years of "mummy" life as a civil servant and searched for the meaning of life.
· Synopsis
Kanji Watanabe, chief of the Municipal Government's Civic Section, is a model local civil servant who has been working fully for nearly 30 years. Every day, I work in a muddy way, and I am as diligent and earnest as other civil servants. I have worked for thirty years and have never thought about the meaning and value of my work.
The sewage ditches in the urban area breed mosquitoes all year round, which seriously affects the lives of residents. But under the mutual blame of civil servants, this problem has never been solved.
Watanabe's stomach disease became more and more serious, so he had to go to the hospital for examination. Although the doctor did not say it, Watanabe knew from his patients that he should have returned home with stomach cancer.
Back at home, a distraught Watanabe hears whispers from his son and daughter-in-law who have plotted his inheritance. Let Watanabe, who has dedicated his life to his son, is even more heartbroken.
Watanabe began to try other things in life. He went to the tavern and felt the drunkenness of the drunkard. But I only felt stomach pain. The writer he met by chance learned about Watanabe and was determined to help him.
The writer and Watanabe go to see the dance together, sing together, drink together, gamble together, indulge in the sound and color of the dog, indulge themselves.
However, after the revelry, there is only endless sadness left in life. Is this the meaning of life? No, it shouldn't be.
Life should be greater, more magnificent, more splendid than that.
Back at watanabe, he meets his subordinate, a young woman full of vitality. She wanted to quit her job as a civil servant and become a worker. Watanabe wants to find the meaning of life in her eternal happiness.
They ate together, skated together, and went shopping together, which gave Watanabe another happy time. However, Watanabe's question still has no answer.
Finally, when Watanabe asked the young women why they were always happy, the young women replied, "I work in a doll factory, and when I was working, I thought of making dolls for children all over Japan and making them happy, and I was very happy."
At this point, Watanabe understood the meaning of his life. Giving to others, contributing a little light and heat to human beings, to illuminate the lives of others, this may be the meaning of life.
In the birthday song, watanabe, who suddenly realized, walked down the stairs, and the girl who had a birthday also happened to walk up. Amid the youthful cheers of the young girls, Watanabe found his second life.
But apparently, our Kurosawa director didn't want to turn it into a mediocre inspirational story.
The camera turns and appears directly in Watanabe's shrine.
Watanabe's colleagues, Watanabe's family, and even city officials attended the unusual funeral.
At the funeral, bureaucrats attributed the completion of the park to the achievements of the deputy mayor, while Watanabe single-handedly promoted the completion of the park as a "rumor".
However, the arrival of the citizens tore apart lies and hypocrisy.
The weeping of the citizens is the most beautiful ode to Watanabe.
The camera flashes back, and Watanabe's great efforts for the park are also presented.
Watanabe, who was once muddy, dragged the sick body for the sake of the park, visited the supervisors again and again, visited officials large and small again, and even confronted the deputy mayor for this purpose.
His health was getting worse and worse, but the light in his eyes was getting brighter and brighter.
On the eve of the park's imminent completion, in the fluttering snowflakes, in the song of "Let's Fall in Love", Watanabe left this world with happiness and satisfaction.
At the end of the film, everything is as usual, the civil servants are still living in a fog, the sun is still rising and falling again and again, but there is only a small park. Watanabe, as if it never existed.
But so what? Watanabe was once brilliant, like a firework.
Henstein aesthetics
The exquisite lens language has always been a major feature of Akira Kurosawa's films.
In particular, the aesthetics of composition are vividly reflected in Akira Kurosawa's films.
Watanabe swinging in the park railing
Children playing in the park
Clever use of mirrors
Light and shadow set off the mood of the characters
Beyond the story
Watanabe in the film finds the meaning of life before he dies. And in life, how many muddled nightmares can not find the meaning of life in a lifetime.
I think that the real life should be like this, enjoy the sunset, enjoy the snowflakes, enjoy every moment, enjoy the challenge of the "city hall" in life, do not indulge in numbness to themselves, do not worry about life for profit, but to create something, to shine something, to sit on the swing of the park, to sing their own song of life. Even if I say goodbye to the world the next day, I can laugh and say that I don't want to leave, but I have no regrets.
Finally, let us enjoy a song called "Born like a Summer Flower", and may each of us be born as "as splendid as a summer flower, and as quiet as an autumn leaf in death".