Living is a touching film about learning to live life before it’s too late.
The Production: 4.5/5
Rodney Williams (Bill Nighy) is a proper British gentleman, spending much of his life living a mundane life as a public servant in 1950s London managing the Public Works department and residing with his son Michael (Barney Fishwick) and daughter-in-law Fiona (Patsy Feran). After diagnosed with terminal cancer, he wanders into a seaside café where he meets a young playwright, Mr. Sutherland (Tom Burke, Mank), who has been suffering from insomnia, and tells him of his diagnosis after offering him several of unopened bottles of prescription sleeping pills, and that he just doesn’t have it in himself to commit suicide. Sutherland takes Williams out for a night on the town in hopes of teaching him how to live life more fully. The next day, he runs into office worker Margaret Harris (Aimee Lou Wood), who has accepted a new job as an assistant manager pending a letter of recommendation from her boss. Williams apologizes for not writing the letter and takes her to a fancy lunch while composing the letter. Over lunch, Williams’ dead heart begins to melt as Margaret begins to tell him of her funny nicknames for her co-workers. As the film progresses, Williams realizes that he never really learned how to live until he found himself facing death.
Living is a slow-burn dramatic film, a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru (which was based on the Russian novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy) that is a showcase for Bill Nighy’s talent as a dramatic actor, better known to US audiences for his more comedic and theatrical roles in films such as Love Actually and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Director Oliver Hermanus and cinematographer Jamie Ramsay capture the style of British films from the 1950s and early 1960s quite well, starting the film with a title sequence using 1950s era stock footage, using the 1.48:1 aspect ratio throughout, and grading the film in browns and yellows. The film received two very worthy Oscar nominations, Bill Nighy for Best Actor and Kazuo Ishiguro for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
Living was captured digitally at 3.4K resolution on Arri Alexa Mini cameras, likely completed as a 4K digital intermediate. Sony’s Blu-ray release is exceptional, providing a film-like image with sharp clarity. Contrast is excellent, providing deep blacks with strong shadow detail for the many nighttime scenes. Colors are life-like but slightly muted, an artistic choice to emulate the look of a film from the 1950s.
Audio: 4/5
The disc’s sole 5.1 DTS-HD MA track does its job well for a very dialogue-driven film. There’s not a whole lot of heavy lifting here – dialogue is clear and understandable throughout (directed almost entirely to the center channel), with ambient sound effects and Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch’s score filling out the remaining channels and LFE providing assistance for better bass response.
Special Features: 2/5
A Life Semi-Lived (1080p; 4:37): A typical EPK behind the scenes trailer for the film, featuring interviews with actor Bill Nighy, director Oliver Hermanus and writer Kazuo Ishiguro.
Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:42)
Overall: 4/5
Living is a touching film about learning to live life before it’s too late, featuring an Oscar-nominated performance by Bill Nighy.
Living [Blu-ray]
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Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.
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