Two years ago, I wrote the first piece for what would become Cinema Soliloquy. It was a short treatise on cinema-at-large, and how the unique human experience lets us live memories anew when projected back at us on the silver screen. It is a fine piece, and I’ll always tend towards self-criticism over any sort of retrospective appreciation, but the temporal distance has begun to dawn on me as I have taken the last few weeks off from writing anything on here. In a life full of aspiration and less-than-admirable efforts at chasing those dreams, I remain proud of the words spilled here, illuminating the films and stories that have shaped my experience in a real, tangible way. This entire month has been one of reflection, really: I turned 27 at the beginning of June, I visited New York to take in a relatively small portion of the Tribeca Film Festival, and I have spent most of the extended daylight we have here in Chicago trying to enjoy my favorite season, Midwestern Summer.
Thank you for this very personal walk down memory lane through the film "Ikiru." I love that story too. I think that in some way almost all of Akira Kurosawa's movies ask the question, "If life is so brief, what should we be doing with the time we're given?" It's certainly a haunting question...
This is a terrific piece, Will.
Thanks so much, Matthew!
Thank you for this very personal walk down memory lane through the film "Ikiru." I love that story too. I think that in some way almost all of Akira Kurosawa's movies ask the question, "If life is so brief, what should we be doing with the time we're given?" It's certainly a haunting question...
I'm glad you are still here with us buddy, and thank you for sharing your story and journey 🙏