Record of a Living Being

film by Kurosawa [1955]

Also known as: “I Live in Fear”, “Ikimono no kiroku”

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 13, 2026

Quick Summary

Ikimono no kiroku (1955), also known as I Live in Fear or Record of a Living Being, is a film by Akira Kurosawa. The movie portrays a Japanese foundry owner's intense fear of atomic testing by the United States and the Soviet Union. Despite its honest portrayal of this anxiety, the film's pessimistic conclusion led to it being a commercial failure. Kurosawa was a highly acclaimed Japanese film director, known for international successes like Rashomon and Seven Samurai.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Kurosawa Akira
Films of the 1950s
…I Live in Fear, or Record of a Living Being) is a deeply honest film portraying a Japanese foundry owner’s terror of the atomic tests conducted by the United States and the Soviet Union. Its pessimistic conclusion, however, made it a commercial failure.
Read More
…I Live in Fear, or Record of a Living Being) is a deeply honest film portraying a Japanese foundry owner’s terror of the atomic tests conducted by the United States and the Soviet Union. Its pessimistic conclusion, however, made it a commercial failure.
Read More