Living
Kurosawa's films are so remarkable that it is almost impossible to choose between classics such as Seven Samurai, Rashômon and Throne of Blood. The one, however, that betters even these is Living (Ikiru).
It is the simple story of an old civil servant who is dying of cancer and wants to do something worthwhile before his end.
He determines to use his bureaucratic experience to bring about the near-impossible - to turn a sewage dump in a poor district of Tokyo into a children's playground.
The tale is told in flashback, with a policeman recounting how he found the old man dead on a child's swing amid the snow in the completed playground.
This sequence is one of the most magnificent in cinema. Kurosawa's message is that "a man is what he does", even though it is clear the civil servant felt his life had been largely wasted.
The result is often so moving that I would defy anyone who loves film not to shed a tear. But, ultimately, those tears will be shed not just through sadness, but because of a renewed belief in man's capabilities.
