Akira Kurosawa's dramatic masterpiece Ikiru follows a middle-aged Tokyo bureaucrat Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) who learns he is dying of stomach cancer and, in trying to do one last, worthy act in his life, decides to try and transform a cesspool into a children's playground. The movie's most memorable image is of Watanabe in the final moments of his life on Earth, sat on the very swing he helped build. On its own terms, the image represents a very clear metaphor: the notion of keeping young at heart even as we age, and not to become too tired and fed up with life before our time is up. And of course, much like the 2001: A Space Odyssey image, the use of childlike imagery also reflects a desire to return to the carefree nature of youth as opposed to the crushing responsibility of adulthood, which leads to the finality of death as we age. How many of us are really going to still be playing on a swing-set when we're in our 70s? Probably not very many, but maybe more of us should every now and then...
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
