Ikiru adaptation – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

LIVING – Review by Lois Alter Mark

December 20, 2022December 20, 2022 Lois Alter Mark Aimee Lou Woods, Bill Nighy, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Ikiru adaptation, Kazuo Ishiguro, Living, Oliver Hermanus, tom burke

A remake of Akira Kurosawa’s highly acclaimed To Live, Living is equally powerful, thanks to Bill Nighy’s quietly dignified performance and a beautiful script by Nobel Prize winner, Kazuo Ishiguro. Nighy plays Mr. Williams, a very average British civil servant in postwar London, whose first name we never even get to know because no one is close enough to him to refer to him personally.

Festivals Reviews

LIVING (Sundance FF 2022) – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 Leslie Combemale Aimee Lou Woods, Bill Nighy, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Ikiru adaptation, Kazuo Ishiguro, Living, Oliver Hermanus, tom burke

Director Oliver Hermanus and writer Kazuo Ishiguro have that rare mix of hubris, knowledge of film history, and love of subject that have led to adapting the screenplay of writer/director Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 masterpiece Ikiru. Bill Nighy’s performance and the evocative cinematography that captures mid-century London make Living a film that will have its own staying power and great value in repeat viewing. Shame on any critic that points to Ikiru in denying the richness of Living. Note to Hermanus and Ishiguro: Kurosawa would be proud.