Ikiru
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Mr. Watanabe has worked at a boring office job for thirty years. When he learns he has cancer and will die soon, he wonders what his life was for. He decides to spend his last months building a playground for children. This is one of the great films about how to spend a life. Pleasure leaves Watanabe empty; serving others fills him. God is never named, but the film points toward the truth that we find ourselves by giving ourselves away. The one age is 13, set by Lumen's own call for the strip club and heavy drinking; Common Sense Media says 11.
For parents
Best for 13 and up. The one age is 13, set by Lumen; Common Sense Media says 11. Expect a night of heavy drinking, a strip club with women in bikinis, frequent smoking, a mugging, and talk of illness and death. Some subtitle editions have one f-word. The film never speaks of God, so add what it leaves out. Watanabe learns that love is shown in deeds, and Christ teaches the same (Matthew 25:40). Ask: why did the nightclubs not help him? What would you want to have done if you had six months? Why do the coworkers forget their promise so fast?