There have been many remarkable actors in the history of Japanese film. None, however, surpassed the late, magnificent
Shimura Takashi (志村 喬) for introspection and dignity. Where
Mifune Toshiro (三船 敏郎) was the power of the genius,
Kurosawa Akira's (黒澤 明) finest work,
Shimura was its heart and conscience.
Shimura was the leader of the
Seven Samurai (七人の侍), considered one of the greatest-ever Japanese cinema masterpieces, the eyes of the wood-cutter in the other great Kurosawa work,
Rashomon (羅生門), appeared in numerous other Kurosawa landmarks, as well as those for other cinematic masters such as the pioneering
Mizoguchi Kenji (溝口 健二), for
Inagaki Hiroshi (稲垣浩),
Okamoto Kihachi (岡本 喜八) and many more. Of course, I will always most fondly remember his work in "
Kaiju Eiga", particularly his most well-known role to Western audiences, that of Dr.
Yamane in the original
Godzilla.
IMHO, his best work ever was in Kurosawa's
Ikiru (生きる). In it, he plays Mr.
Watanabe, an ageing, droning government functionary who learns that he has stomach cancer and only months to live. When he receives his diagnosis, he goes off on a journey of self-exploration that brings him not to some radically different place as would be the
cliché, but to a return to bureaucracy and a triumph over it--securing a place for a simple children's park. The most special moments of the film come when he begins a fascination for a former government subordinate, a young woman who leaves her post to work in a toy production company.
Watanabe falls in love; not with the girl, but with her lust for life. The pathos of
Shimura-
san's performance in his final scenes with the young woman, again IMHO (though the opinion is shared by many in the film community, have never been surpassed. Just look into those deep, emotional eyes and they tell stories that a thousand actors and actresses cannot tell with countless words.
Shimura Takashi's career spanned 45 years. There are so many films in different genre's to choose from. If you've never seen a
Shimura film, you've missed a wonderful experience. Here's a chance to "catch up":
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793766/
