Takashi Shimura 1905-1982

It's funny, with all of the beautiful movies out there to find, how circuitous the route to finding one can be. I've just finished being moved by a gentle little story called Ikiru (To Live or Living), which no doubt all film buffs know as one of Akira Kurosawa's masterpieces, but which I was barely aware of.

The main reason I picked it up off Netflix is my recent discovery that Takashi Shimura, the kindly Professor Yamane in the early Godzilla flicks, had a life outside of monster movies. And what a life! He's the leader of The Seven Samurai, one of the key characters in Rashomon, and countless other roles. His imdb.com listing names 199 movies from 1935 to 1981, a year before his death.

I will explore that filmography gleefully, but I think I'll always be haunted by the sight of him on a swing in the snow, quietly singing:

Life is brief
Fall in love, maidens,
Before the crimson bloom
Fades from your lips,
Before the tides of passion
Cool within you
For those of you
Who know no tomorrow ...

What an amazing leap from "A trilobite - a three-winged worm that was thought to be extinct."

This is an incredible discovery!