The Japanese television network TV Asahi is reportedly currently filming a TV remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1952 movie Ikiru.
Production of the television drama, which stars the popular kabuki actor Matsumoto Koshiro IX in the main role made famous by Takashi Shimura, will wrap later this month. The product is scheduled to air sometime this autumn.
Other details about the production are scarce, but it appears that the story has been kept largely intact, with the one major exception being that the events have been changed to take place in the present day.
Those with a command of Japanese can read a short Japanese news article at Yahoo! News Japan. It talks among other things about how the remake is made with the Japanese baby boom generation in mind, as well as how the makers hope to do a good job in recreating Ikiru, while at the same time being aware that they have no chance of actually topping Kurosawa’s original.
TV Asahi’s remake is in fact the second Ikiru remake to be announced within the past few months, with an untitled Jim Sheridan project having been added to IMDb a few months ago.
I guess there is little chance to ever see this, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to get to see a bit when I go to Japan. Too bad I only understand the most basic of the dialog.
I have hope for the Jim Sheridan version, he did a great job on “In America”, which has a similar structure.
Then again he did “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” which I cant understand why, but was decent enough for movie staring a rapper who cant talk much less act.