In Living, Bill Nighy plays Williams, a humorless prisoner of his own routine and of his place in a stultifying culture. Nighy’s performance is as dazzling in its artistry as is his character devoid of any sparkle.
It’s just after World War II, and Williams commands a platoon of clerks and their pod of desks and inboxes in the London government’s bureaucracy. The one thing everyone works hard at is finding an excuse not to actually accomplish anything, as they industriously push paper back and forth. The unifying ethos is conformity, and no one wants to be the nail that sticks up. It’s an environment that makes everyone comfortable with despair.
Williams gets some very bad news from his doctor. Although he lives with his son and daughter-in-law, he has no family or friends close enough to share his situation with. At first, Williams seeks out the traditional outlet of those with a short horizon – hedonism. He remains unsatisfied until he catches a spark from a much younger former co-worker and follows her example about how to live more fully. If you haven’t seen the film Ikiru (of which this is a remake), you will be surprised by the twists and turns in Williams journey, so I won’t spoil them with further detail.
Director Oliver Hermanus and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro adapted (and CLOSELY adapted) the screenplay from Ikiru, directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa. The Wife noted the wisdom of the choice to set Living in postwar, rather than contemporary, London. The distance in time helps us appreciate Living as an allegory.
Kurosawa and his co-writers made an interesting choice in the original Ikiru – to make the protagonist’s soul-crushing career that of a bureaucrat instead of something else. It’s a great choice because the studied inaction of the bureaucrats affects themselves and outsiders, too – it’s really perfect for this story about the ripples in the pond when just one individual decides to fully LIVE.
I left the theater thinking that Aimee Lou Woods, who plays Miss Harris, the key to Williams metamorphosis, was adequate. But the more I thought about it, I realized that she is essentially working face-to-face with another actor who is giving an Oscar-worthy, career-topping performance; her performance stands up to his and is perfectly modulated. So, it’s more than adequate.
Williams’ louche tour guide through depravity is wonderfully played by Tom Burke, the-boyfriend-who-is-nothing-like-he-seems in The Souvenir.
Living is a very, very good movie with a great, great performance by Bill Nighy.
