--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: 'Ikiru' is existential but with a lot of…" description: "\"'Ikiru' is existential but with a lot of tenderness.\" — Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_existential_ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-t_1335846.jpg" --- # 'Ikiru' is existential but with a lot of tenderness. ![“'Ikiru' is existential but with a lot of tenderness.” quote by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_existential_ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-t_1335846.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_existential_ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-t_1335846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_existential_ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-t_1335846.jpg) > “'Ikiru' is existential but with a lot of tenderness.” [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The film blends existential themes with gentle compassion, showing life's meaning through kindness. **In simple terms:** Ikiru mixes existentialism with tenderness. Key Takeaway Seek meaning through compassionate actions. Themes existentialism compassion meaning Mood thoughtful hopeful Type cinematic philosophical When to use this quote - counseling - volunteering - elder care - art therapy Key Concepts humanism film analysis Questions to Reflect On - What acts of kindness give your life meaning? - How does compassion shape your purpose? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on tenderness may dilute existential urgency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) ## Related quotes > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Plays are always about intense relationships, whether they're intense love relationships or family relationships or existential relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ives/plays-are-always-about-intense-relationships-whether-they-re-intense/) [David Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ives/) > [When we are dealing with human beings, no truth has reality by itself; it is always dependent upon the reality of the immediate relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/when-we-are-dealing-with-human-beings-no-truth-has-reality-by-itself/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [I thought I was having an existential crisis, but it was nothing. Please don't tailgate: body in trunk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/i-thought-i-was-having-an-existential-crisis-but-it-was-nothing/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [“But then one voice arose from the babbling clamor to silence them all. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a while. Steady…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-fisher/but-then-one-voice-arose-from-the-babbling-clamor-to-silence-them-all/) [Casey Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-fisher/) > [Seeing no resolution to my existential recognition of loss, I decide to eat lunch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/seeing-no-resolution-to-my-existential-recognition-of-loss-i-decide/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [there's no forsaking what you love no existential leap as witnessed here in time and blood a thousand kisses deep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/there-s-no-forsaking-what-you-love-no-existential-leap-as-witnessed/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [man is free, in so far as he has the power of contradicting himself and his essential nature. Man is free even from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/man-is-free-in-so-far-as-he-has-the-power-of-contradicting-himself/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [It is obvious that humanity faces existential threats of a global nature. They are global in the sense that is not possible to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbjorn-tannsjo/it-is-obvious-that-humanity-faces-existential-threats-of-a-global/) [Torbjorn Tannsjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbjorn-tannsjo/) > [I don't know any 21-year-old who's not having an existential crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-purnell/i-don-t-know-any-21-year-old-who-s-not-having-an-existential-crisis/) [Ella Purnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-purnell/) > [Time and time again, our species has escaped existential threats by reinventing ourselves, finding new skills not coded in our genes to survive new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/time-and-time-again-our-species-has-escaped-existential-threats-by/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [One must have at least a readiness to love the other person, broadly speaking, if one is to be able to understand him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/one-must-have-at-least-a-readiness-to-love-the-other-person-broadly/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [“At a certain time in our existential experience, we must just not want better for ourselves, but for our country and the success of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-johnson-jr/at-a-certain-time-in-our-existential-experience-we-must-just-not-want/) [Henry Johnson Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-johnson-jr/) > [We like existentially wacky characters who exist in existential crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-russo/we-like-existentially-wacky-characters-who-exist-in-existential-crisis/) [Joe Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-russo/) > [Indeed, compulsive and rigid moralism arises in given persons precisely as the result of a lack of sense of being. Rigid moralism is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/indeed-compulsive-and-rigid-moralism-arises-in-given-persons/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## More by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [My mom had very low expectations for me, and she really had a point. I was a big problem at seventeen. If I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/my-mom-had-very-low-expectations-for-me-and-she-really-had-a-point-i/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [Life and death are illusions. We are in a constant state of transformation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/life-and-death-are-illusions-we-are-in-a-constant-state-of/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I think the most experimental way to a film is to tell the story the traditional way, because everyone is doing the other thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-think-the-most-experimental-way-to-a-film-is-to-tell-the-story-the/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [Time starts out as a notion. But after you turn fifty, time is not a notion anymore but a fact that you start feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/time-starts-out-as-a-notion-but-after-you-turn-fifty-time-is-not-a/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I think bad movies are made around the world, not just in Hollywood. There are as many bad art films in the whole world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-think-bad-movies-are-made-around-the-world-not-just-in-hollywood/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [ How can \[actors\] learn their lines and be honest in front of 30 people and all the lights? It makes me cry sometimes. I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/how-can-actors-learn-their-lines-and-be-honest-in-front-of-30-people/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I love the three-act theory. It works and works beautifully. But you don't necessarily have to structure a story that way: Cortazar and Borges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-love-the-three-act-theory-it-works-and-works-beautifully-but-you/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [3D is the way we experience life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/3d-is-the-way-we-experience-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I made commercials for corporations like Volkswagen and Coca-Cola, but I was always the one to write them, too, which was a very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-made-commercials-for-corporations-like-volkswagen-and-coca-cola-but/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I like to make films, but the only reason I do is because I'm a very bad musician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-like-to-make-films-but-the-only-reason-i-do-is-because-i-m-a-very/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [It's very healthy to be aware of your ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/it-s-very-healthy-to-be-aware-of-your-ego/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I personally can't handle frivolous violence. I overreact to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-personally-can-t-handle-frivolous-violence-i-overreact-to-it/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [ I saw what I could \[in Mexico City\], but we rarely got anything other than big, mainstream American films. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-saw-what-i-could-in-mexico-city-but-we-rarely-got-anything-other/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [For the actors, the talent is to serve the demands that I ask of them, to do it with naturality and truth, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/for-the-actors-the-talent-is-to-serve-the-demands-that-i-ask-of-them/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) [Explore all 262 Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) ## More Existential quotes > [When we watch a play under the standard circumstances, we've lost volition and time is passing. A still play feels like an existential threat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/when-we-watch-a-play-under-the-standard-circumstances-we-ve-lost/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-think-we-should-be-very-careful-about-artificial-intelligence-if-i/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [The argument that won the Brexit campaign is the one that said take back control... which is another way of saying we want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-timmermans/the-argument-that-won-the-brexit-campaign-is-the-one-that-said-take/) [Frans Timmermans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-timmermans/) > [“When it has finished saying it, it no longer is. The longer it is in saying it, the more it can say it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-ponge/when-it-has-finished-saying-it-it-no-longer-is-the-longer-it-is-in/) Francis Ponge > [We have an existential crisis, which is the climate crisis. Canada is one of the laggards in the industrialized world. Our record is terrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/we-have-an-existential-crisis-which-is-the-climate-crisis-canada-is/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [Did television execs have souls? Now, that was an existential question and a half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/did-television-execs-have-souls-now-that-was-an-existential-question/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [“So am I dead? How many kinds of living and dead and living dead and dead living had I been in just these few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-frances-turner/so-am-i-dead-how-many-kinds-of-living-and-dead-and-living-dead-and/) [Joan Frances Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-frances-turner/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I write very rarely. Only, in fact, when the sheet of paper suffers an existential crisis and threatens, if I don't surrender to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-dimoula/i-write-very-rarely-only-in-fact-when-the-sheet-of-paper-suffers-an/) [Kiki Dimoula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-dimoula/) > [Michael Jackson is an extremely productive ethnographer, a serious reader of phenomenological and existential philosophy, and a remarkable writer at a level that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-kleinman/michael-jackson-is-an-extremely-productive-ethnographer-a-serious/) [Arthur Kleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-kleinman/) > [If I had to choose between the two ways of approaching the deity, I should prefer the existential relational way, to the abstract philosophical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-moore-cross/if-i-had-to-choose-between-the-two-ways-of-approaching-the-deity-i/) [Frank Moore Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-moore-cross/) > [Huge public spending and borrowing in the face of an existential crisis is clearly the right thing to do, as is putting people's health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lucas/huge-public-spending-and-borrowing-in-the-face-of-an-existential/) [Caroline Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lucas/) > [The ability to forget the past enables people to free themselves gradually from the pain they once suffered; but it also often makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/the-ability-to-forget-the-past-enables-people-to-free-themselves/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) [Browse all 616 Existential quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "'Ikiru' is existential but with a lot of tenderness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-tenderness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existential" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-tenderness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_existential_ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-t_1335846.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_existential_ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-t_1335846.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_existential_ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-t_1335846.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“'Ikiru' is existential but with a lot of tenderness.” — Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "'Ikiru' is existential but with a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-tenderness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/ikiru-is-existential-but-with-a-lot-of-tenderness/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```