Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru (1952) Takashi Shimura delivered a performance in Ikiru that critics hailed as among the best in the world at the time. Ironically, years later, when Shimura appeared in Godzilla (1954), some critics viewed the film’s acting as uneven — though Shimura’s presence remained memorable. Cinema’s twists: greatness in one moment, irony in the next. | History of Cinema