LFF 2022: Living

Remakes of Akira Kurosawa films should always be regarded with scepticism, but they do frequently manage to transpose his observations on contemporary or historical Japanese society on to the culture into which they’re being adapted. Thankfully, Living continues the trend with a mostly rewarding exercise in investigating the codes of class and labour that existed in 1950s England (as opposed to the same era of Japan in the original Ikiru), refracted through the end-of-life lifestyle shifts of a respected but unexcitable civil servant, Williams (Bill Nighy), after an unexpected terminal cancer diagnosis.

It’s maybe the high standard set before it that propelled Living’s team to strive for something more prestigious than the usual sentimental British period fare. Director Oliver Hermanus (Moffie) and cinematographer Jamie Ramsay shoot with crisp, delicate style, offering a gorgeous colour palette in response to Kurosawa’s black-and-white original. All Living’s constituent parts, from the performances (a quietly powerful Nighy) to the stunning score (Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch) feel finely crafted.

It’s a shame that the script, penned by none other than Kazuo Ishiguro, ends up flattening Living’s home stretch. Ishiguro has a great ear for the reserved, clipped dialect of the period, but the last third neglects to offer Ikiru’s furious closing social criticism, opting for interpersonal drama that, when it has to land the film’s entire emotional payoff, feels underdeveloped. It may appear only a slight fault, especially considering the strength of so many other elements, but the result is a film that deserves a more lasting impact.