Camus, Ibsen, Kurosawa, Teshigahara and the Meaning of Life (English Edition)

Albert Camus, Kurosawa, Ibsen and Teshigahara all reflected upon the meaning of life in their writings and films. Kurosawa’s film Ikiru tells the tale of twenty-five year old veteran who works for a business as a proofreader. His job daily is making sure that each piece of paper that is placed on top of his desk is stamped with a rubber stamp. It is a simple task. A task that anyone on earth could do, yet he doesn’t see that after twenty-five long years that his life has any meaning at all. Kurosawa begins to build the tension for this man by adding some additional concerns for this gentleman. He goes to the doctor and he will learn that he is dying of stomach cancer. In seconds; the man’s life comes crashing down. Now what is a person supposed to do at this stage in life? Is he to surrender to death all together and give up finding anything more to do to make his life more interesting, meaningful?