Living
Living
Starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke
Directed by Oliver Hermanus
Starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke
Directed by Oliver Hermanus
When it comes to getting older, there's a bunch of sayings that are as archaic as they come: "you can't teach a dog new tricks," "they're as stubborn as a mule," and the like seem to point to the fact that once you hit your "golden years," you're a joyless, stuck-in-your-ways person who hates everyone and everything. While that is actually true for some people, it's not how every old person feels: in fact, sometimes when you hit your elder years you discover new things about life, an appreciation for the rest of the life you have to live, and wise, sage advice to offer the next generations. This is all the more potent when you realize you really don't have much longer to live, and choose to live it with all your might.
Mr. Williams (Bill Nighy) is the head of the Public Works Department shortly after World War II, and he's a creature of habit: he wakes up, takes the train to work (but making sure it's not the same train as his employees), works an average day, goes home, sleeps, and starts all over again. He doesn't seem to be having a lot of fun in life, and doesn't really talk to his only son Michael (Barney Fishwick) and Michael's wife who lives with them. Then one day he gets a diagnosis: he has stomach cancer, and has six to nine months left to live. Mr. Williams takes it with a stiff upper lip, but after encountering a young man named Mr. Sutherland (Tom Burke) at a diner, he decides that he wants to enjoy the rest of his life, and the two spend a night drinking, singing, and enjoying the nightlife.
Mr. Williams skips work, which concerns his employees especially Margaret Harris (Aimee Lou Wood), but when he encounters her one day, they spend the day together having fun. He keeps his illness from his son because he feels that he is too busy living his own life, and confides in Margaret his impending demise, and she encourages him to live the rest of his life with purpose, so he sets out to accomplish one final task at his job, which even though seems insignificant, turns out to be a deeply profound sentiment.
The great actor Bill Nighy is a chameleon of an actor: he completely vanishes in any role he takes on, and performs it with all his gusto and might no matter the product. Be it voice-over work for video games like "Destiny" and "The Elder Scrolls Online" or playing a vampire elder in the "Underworld" franchise, or Davey Jones in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise - or, two of my sentimental favorites, Shaun's grumpy stepfather in "Shaun of the Dead" and the old rocker in "Love Actually"- he has literally done it all, and for some reason accolades have seemed to elude him, at least as far as the Academy is concerned. Finally he's getting his just due, earning an Academy Award nomination for his beautiful work in "Living," and even though he's a long shot (and I mean a loooooooooong shot), it's great that the seventy-three year old actor is finally getting recognition.
Here he plays the stoic Mr. Williams, a man who finds out he's dying, and chooses to live the rest of the short life he has left to the fullest. Now some films would find the character weeping uncontrollably when he finds the news, but his response is a simple "quite." Even as he chooses to live his best life, there's never a crescendo moment where he tearfully expresses his fears, regrets, or sadness, but rather he does everything with this soft absolutism that never wavers. This is Nighy's best work by far, as the film manages to utilize his greatest assets: his commanding yet soft voice, and his ability to use his body to express emotions that words cannot. While there's other people in the film, all eyes are on Nighy, and he shows grace and dignity when faced with life-shattering news.
"Living" is actually an adapted film from the great director Akira Kurosawa, who's 1952 film "Ikiru" serves as the inspiration, and to adapt a film from one of cinema's most decorated, memorable, and downright terrific directors seems almost like career suicide, but Oliver Hermanus tackles it with gentle gusto, exploring all the aspects of the film to make it one that you'll remember. The film is shot in classic box format with a softer color palette to make it look like a film out of the 50s, and it's a surprise that the production design team didn't receive a nomination themselves (even though it did also earn Kazuo Ishiguro a nomination for Adapted Screenplay).
Through Bill Nighy's performance, "Living" shows us that we can live our best lives at any age, and hopefully it doesn't take an illness to do so. We waste our lives focusing on what's not important: career, money, prestige, and ignore the things that makes life great: friends, family, and the littlest things like a beautiful sunny day or a walk in the park that gives us an appreciation for the life we live. We need to live our lives like we're on borrowed time, because we are, and we don't want to reach our golden years and look back at life with regret - rather keep living the great life that we've been given, and do it with quiet reckless abandon.
The Score: A+
Mr. Williams (Bill Nighy) is the head of the Public Works Department shortly after World War II, and he's a creature of habit: he wakes up, takes the train to work (but making sure it's not the same train as his employees), works an average day, goes home, sleeps, and starts all over again. He doesn't seem to be having a lot of fun in life, and doesn't really talk to his only son Michael (Barney Fishwick) and Michael's wife who lives with them. Then one day he gets a diagnosis: he has stomach cancer, and has six to nine months left to live. Mr. Williams takes it with a stiff upper lip, but after encountering a young man named Mr. Sutherland (Tom Burke) at a diner, he decides that he wants to enjoy the rest of his life, and the two spend a night drinking, singing, and enjoying the nightlife.
Mr. Williams skips work, which concerns his employees especially Margaret Harris (Aimee Lou Wood), but when he encounters her one day, they spend the day together having fun. He keeps his illness from his son because he feels that he is too busy living his own life, and confides in Margaret his impending demise, and she encourages him to live the rest of his life with purpose, so he sets out to accomplish one final task at his job, which even though seems insignificant, turns out to be a deeply profound sentiment.
The great actor Bill Nighy is a chameleon of an actor: he completely vanishes in any role he takes on, and performs it with all his gusto and might no matter the product. Be it voice-over work for video games like "Destiny" and "The Elder Scrolls Online" or playing a vampire elder in the "Underworld" franchise, or Davey Jones in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise - or, two of my sentimental favorites, Shaun's grumpy stepfather in "Shaun of the Dead" and the old rocker in "Love Actually"- he has literally done it all, and for some reason accolades have seemed to elude him, at least as far as the Academy is concerned. Finally he's getting his just due, earning an Academy Award nomination for his beautiful work in "Living," and even though he's a long shot (and I mean a loooooooooong shot), it's great that the seventy-three year old actor is finally getting recognition.
Here he plays the stoic Mr. Williams, a man who finds out he's dying, and chooses to live the rest of the short life he has left to the fullest. Now some films would find the character weeping uncontrollably when he finds the news, but his response is a simple "quite." Even as he chooses to live his best life, there's never a crescendo moment where he tearfully expresses his fears, regrets, or sadness, but rather he does everything with this soft absolutism that never wavers. This is Nighy's best work by far, as the film manages to utilize his greatest assets: his commanding yet soft voice, and his ability to use his body to express emotions that words cannot. While there's other people in the film, all eyes are on Nighy, and he shows grace and dignity when faced with life-shattering news.
"Living" is actually an adapted film from the great director Akira Kurosawa, who's 1952 film "Ikiru" serves as the inspiration, and to adapt a film from one of cinema's most decorated, memorable, and downright terrific directors seems almost like career suicide, but Oliver Hermanus tackles it with gentle gusto, exploring all the aspects of the film to make it one that you'll remember. The film is shot in classic box format with a softer color palette to make it look like a film out of the 50s, and it's a surprise that the production design team didn't receive a nomination themselves (even though it did also earn Kazuo Ishiguro a nomination for Adapted Screenplay).
Through Bill Nighy's performance, "Living" shows us that we can live our best lives at any age, and hopefully it doesn't take an illness to do so. We waste our lives focusing on what's not important: career, money, prestige, and ignore the things that makes life great: friends, family, and the littlest things like a beautiful sunny day or a walk in the park that gives us an appreciation for the life we live. We need to live our lives like we're on borrowed time, because we are, and we don't want to reach our golden years and look back at life with regret - rather keep living the great life that we've been given, and do it with quiet reckless abandon.
The Score: A+
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