by Robert Bouffard, Editor
Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru is a seminal masterpiece in a long line of great, influential movies from the acclaimed director. Because of this, it might seem ill-advised to remake it. 50 years after its release, director Oliver Hermanus ventured to do just that with his new film, Living. Starring the great British actor Bill Nighy, Living doesn’t particularly offer any new insights or angles into the story of its inspiration, but it’s nearly as effective in the way that it gets at the heart of human drive, ambition, and passion, and the way those influence the way we interact with the people around us.
Ikiru probably wouldn’t be worth remaking at all if you didn’t have an incredible lead performance like Takashi Shimura’s. Thankfully, if there is only one reason to watch Living, it is for Nighy. He has played a man trying to take advantage of the short amount of time he has to live before (go watch About Time if you haven’t already), but he brings a level of pathos and emotion to Living that we really haven’t seen from him before. It’s no wonder he’s garnering some awards chatter. The consistency of his even, monotone demeanor is offset by the moments that we see him break out in emotion (or song), whether it’s lively, melancholy, or sad. He doesn’t imitate Shimura, but he brings a similar spirit to the film.
Living sticks to the same premise of Ikiru: a civil servant (Nighy) who’s the head of his department finds out he has less than a year to live. After this news, he realizes he’s spent his entire life sitting behind a desk and not experiencing everything what the world has to offer. So there and then, and thanks to inspiration from Miss Harris (the lovely Aimee Lou Wood) he resolves to no longer be humorless and strict, and to spend his time helping people, and feeling like he’s accomplished some good in his life.
That it sticks so closely to the original script is both a negative and a positive. In the negative sense, you’re still lacking a unique take on the story. But in the positive sense, it’s an inherently moving story that’s worth coming back to. This remake does seem more hopeful and life-affirming than the original. That’s not necessarily a qualitative assessment, but its tone is quite cheerful, even given the dire circumstances of the story. It has an atmosphere of encouragement and belief in people’s capacity for good, when it easily could have stayed regretful and mournful.
That consistent mood is largely created by a great, mostly-piano score from Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. It allows you to believe in life, and to show sadness for those who don’t. The score one of our first impressions of the film, and it moves from joyous to pensive seamlessly. The same goes for Jamie Ramsay’s cinematography. While Ikiru has some iconic images that would be difficult to reimagine, Ramsay does so without a hitch. The gentle manner in which the final scene on the swings is shot hugely contributes to the difference in tone between the remake and original.
Living justifies its own existence largely thanks to its inherent zeal for life. Nighy gives one of the best performances of his career, after a long career of great performances, and along with the score and cinematography, he elevates Living to much more than it probably should ever have been.
Score: 8/10
Living is currently playing in limited theaters
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