There are films (like TOP GUN: MAVERICK and AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER) that need to be seen on the biggest screen with the best sound system possible. There are other films, that, actually, work better in a smaller, intimate setting (like your own home).
Such is the case with LIVING.
The great Bill Nighy (LOVE ACTUALLY) is Oscar Nominated for his turn as a taciturn British Civil Servant in 1950’s England that receives a grim medical diagnosis. He decides to release the shackles of his “British Propriety” and start LIVING.
Based on the 1952 Akira Kurosawa film IKIRU (which, in turn, was based on the Leo Tolstoy novella THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH), Living is a smart, gentle character study that takes it’s time getting the audience from Point “A” to Point “B” with the emphasis being on the journey - not the destination. It is a meditation on life, connection, leaving a legacy and the true meaning of “a life well lived”.
Director Oliver Hermanus (THE ENDLESS RIVER) takes the script by Writer Kazuo Ishiguro (who is Oscar nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay) and leans into the environment of this piece, sinking the audience into the buttoned up world of 1950’s British Civil Service as well as shining a brief light upon the “non-buttoned up” Britain of the time. Hermanus let’s Nighy’s character experience, blossom and open up as his journey develops and this is a very smart move on his part.
It was also a very smart move to cast Nighy in this role. It is a perfect blending of role and actor and Nighy richly deserves his Oscar nomination. He plays the straightlaceness of his character strongly at the beginning, with just enough light shining underneath to help the audience understand that there is more to this man than meets the eye and then Nighy slowy, slyly, peels the layers of the onion back to reveal the true nature of the man beneath. It is the first Oscar Nomination for this wonderful actor and, hopefully, this will bring more eyeballs to his work.
A very satisfying, emotionally rich experience, one that I was grateful I could escape into in the comfort of my home.
Letter Grade: A-
8 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
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