Thursday, 15 August 2024

VOD: Living (dir: Oliver Hermanus, 2022)

"Not too much fun and laughter.  Rather like church."

Living arrives with quite a pedigree - based on a Kurosawa film, co-written by Kazuo Ishiguro and immaculately (period) costumed by Sandy Powell - and delivers beautifully.  Bill Nighy plays Mr Williams, a rigid and repressed County hall bureaucrat in the 1950s facing a huge personal crisis and learning how to finally live a little.  The whole film is mounted exquisitely through its old-style presentation nods and featuring Nighy at his gently heartbreaking best, aided by strong supporting performances from Aimee Lou Wood as his young woman co-wprker who helps him on his journey and Alex Sharp as the callow office newbie.  This is a quiet, simple tale told beautifully, shot through with wistful melancholy and a powerful message that everyone has the capacity to change and embrace life.
 

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