10 Greatest Movies About Death
5. Ikiru
Though not nearly as iconic or beloved as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Ikiru is arguably his best film, or at least his most emotionally impactful.
Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) is a Tokyo bureaucrat nearing retirement who has done little truly meaningful with his life, when he is diagnosed with stomach cancer and given less than a year to live.
What follows is an incredibly moving portrait of a man attempting to live a worthwhile life against a fast-ticking clock, accented by both Kurosawa's gorgeous, sensitive direction and Shimura's astounding performance.
It's easy to picture a version of this story that's sappy and manipulative, but Kurosawa never tries too hard to wring tears from his audience, even if you'll most certainly be wiping them away by the time the iconic final glimpse of Watanabe swinging in a snow-topped playground arrives.