Living is set to premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival next week. The film takes place in 1953 in London who is shattered by WWII is still recovering. Williams (Bill Nighy), a veteran civil servant, is an impotent cog within the city’s bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild. Buried under paperwork at the office, lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a shattering medical diagnosis forces him to take stock – and to try and grasp fulfilment before it goes beyond reach.
Courtesy of HIFF
At a seaside resort, chaperoned by a local decadent (Tom Burke), he flirts with hedonism before rejecting it as his solution. Back in London, he finds himself drawn to the natural vitality of Margaret (Aimee Lou Wood), a young woman who once worked under his supervision and is now determined to spread her wings. Then one evening he is struck by a revelation – one as simple as it is profound – and with a new energy, and the help of Peter (Alex Sharp), an idealistic new recruit to his department, he sets about creating a legacy for the next generation.
Living began rather serendipitously. One night, when author Kazuo Ishiguro and producer Stephen Woolley were having dinner, Bill Nighy dropped by for a drink. “[They] are film nerds,” laughs Nighy of that evening. “They sit and exchange names of significant figures who made films, mostly in black and white, between the years of 1930 and 1957. They challenge one another to name the designer, the director and who played the policeman at the end. At the end of dinner, Ishiguro and his wife were talking amongst themselves. Then they came out of a huddle and said, ‘We know what your next film should be’. I said, ‘Well, when you feel comfortable, let me know’.”
Courtesy of HIFF
As Woolley remembers it, Ishiguro called him soon after that dinner and said that Nighy should star in a reimagining of Ikiru, the Akira Kurosawa film of 1952, transposed to London at around the same era. Woolley had fond memories of the film but hadn’t watched it recently, so he screened it again, “and cried and loved it,” he says. He quickly saw the parallels.
Courtesy of HIFF
“I’ve been wanting somebody to make a British version of this Japanese classic Ikiru, which I had loved for most of my life,” says Ishiguro. “I think I first saw it when I was a boy on British TV, and it had a huge impact on me. Partly because of my Japanese background, but quite regardless of that, I think I always lived my life informed by the message in that film.” Ishiguro had long had the sense that the story could work in the UK. While Ikiru had dealt with the losing side of World War II, the job of reconstruction and rebirth was similar even for the winners – and there were parallels between the countries’ sense of imperial entitlement, their stoicism and their emotional reserve. On that night at dinner, it suddenly seemed to come together.
“Ishiguro was inspired to think of Bill for this part,” says Woolley, “because Bill brings such empathy. A common emotion between people in Japan and Britain, which I think Ishiguro has found, is that they both have the same stoic restraint. Japanese society and British society are based on a lack of effusiveness. Ishiguro quite rightly thought Bill was perfect to play that kind of character. I suggested to Ishiguro that he write the script. He said he was not very good at screenwriting.”
“I said, ‘You should get a proper screenwriter. Anyway, I’m writing a novel,’” remembers Ishiguro.
Woolley managed to persuade the Nobel and Booker Prize winner that he had the necessary skills, happily. That proved invaluable in securing the rights to the film from the Kurosawa estate, who were wary but intrigued at the promise of Ishiguro’s involvement. “The idea of teaming up Kurosawa with Ishiguro was something they couldn’t resist, really,” says Woolley – at least once they were convinced it was really him, after a number of handwritten notes and a video call.
Check out the teaser trailer here:
Living is a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru, and is directed by Oliver Hermanus (Moffie, The Endless River) from a script by Kazuo Ishiguro (author of the novels The Remains of The Day and Never Let Me Go). The film is produced by Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen for Number 9 Films (The Crying Game, Mothering Sunday, Carol). LIVING stars Bill Nighy (About Time, Emma) as Mr Williams, Tom Burke (The Souvenir Part I, Mank) as Sutherland, Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain) as Margaret and Alex Sharp (The Trial Of The Chicago 7, The Curious Case Of The Dog In The NightTime) as Peter. The creative team includes Director of Photography Jamie Ramsay (Moffie, Mothering Sunday), Production Designer Helen Scott (Small Axe, Fish Tank), Costume Designer Sandy Powell (The Favourite, The Irishman) and Hair and Make-Up Designer Nadia Stacey (Cruella, The Favourite). The score is by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch (Rocks, Censor).
Buy tickets to screen Living at HIFF’s opening night here.
Monica has a BA in Journalism and English from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in Journalism and Communications from Quinnipiac University. Monica has worked as a journalist for over 20 years covering all things entertainment. She has covered everything from San Diego Comic-Con, The SAG Awards, Academy Awards, and more. Monica has been published in Variety, Swagger Magazine, Emmy Magazine, CNN, AP, Hidden Remote, and more. For the past 10 years, she has added PR and marketing to her list of talents as the president of Prime Entertainment Publicity, LLC. Monica is ready for anything and is proudly obsessed with pop culture.
