Living – REVIEW
Image: Bill Nighy in LIVING. Image: film still
This rather sombre and sympathetic British movie asks, is it too late to live life to the fullest when you’re told you only have 6 months left to live?
From Nobel prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro and based on Akira Kurosawa’s film Ikiru, the story centres on a veteran civil servant who has lived a cheerless and somewhat banal life and the changes he makes once he discovers he’s dying from cancer.
Bill Nighy delivers a career-defining performance as Mr Rodney Williams, a man who disappears from the office as he desperately attempts to learn how to enjoy his remaining days.
But why has he changed upon his return to work seemingly a very different person?
The first half of the film introduces audiences to Williams, a placid yet authoritative man who runs a tight office and demands respect from his office workers. Poignant and slightly heart wrenching at times, the mindset of a dying man is explored.
The second half deals with the sympathetic reactions from those people he worked with, and why his death genuinely stimulated them into becoming more productive at work with heightened work ethics.
This is not a film for mainstream audiences and it may only cause a ripple at the all-important world-wide box office. However, it’s a masterfully produced movie, astutely directed comprising what may be the most meaningful and inspiring script written in recent years.
Living is a morally wholesome movie which discerning audiences should savour. It’s one of the year’s most respected movies that may leave audiences questioning what they would change in their lives if they were soon to meet their maker.
★★★★1/2
In Cinemas March 16
