17 Performances so sad that you won’t be able to hold your tears

Modified Feb 09, 2025 11:34 ET

The Father | Image Source: Sony Pictures Classics

13) Takashi Shimura in Ikiru (1952)

Takashi Shimura's performance, as a bureaucrat diagnosed with stomach cancer, is one of the most powerful portrayals of a man confronting his own mortality in Ikiru. His portrayal as middle-aged Kanji Watanabe, filled with subtle grief, shows the depth of transformation while he grapples to realize that his whole life has been wasted on trivial pursuits. Transformation in Watanabe, from a man who is lost in the monotony of life to one who is absolutely seeking meaning, leads to one of the most emotionally devastating final acts in cinema.