Akira Kurosawa: Every Movie Ranked Worst To Best
1. Ikiru (1952)
"Life is brief."
Ask anyone what their favourite Kurosawa film is, chances are they're going to say Seven Samurai. But the truth is, the director's best has to be Ikiru, his devastating character study of Takashi Shimura's terminally ill civil servant, who attempts to find meaning in his life before time runs out.
From the tragedy Shimura is able to express in only a single glance to its insightful assessments of the human condition, Ikiru is a masterpiece of humanist cinema, a galvanising, life-affirming odyssey into a life you can't help but relate to and cry over, and Akira Kurosawa's greatest cinematic achievement.
Of course, Seven Samurai will blow you away, but Ikiru will change your life.