Living

After the end of World War II, the setting of London in ruins works as a mirror for Mr. Williams, an old bureaucrat who faces the dark revelation of his own ruinous condition. It is usually said that it’s necessary to become a prisoner of the most absolute gloom in order to recognize the distant exit light—that’s the situation of the protagonist of Living. Trapped in a monotonous reality in which each day is an exact replica of the one that came before, and after an unexpected medical diagnosis, Mr. Williams suddenly discovers that life is something else altogether, and that he has merely seen it pass by. Based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 masterpiece Ikiru, and written by Nobel Prize Winner Kazuo Ishiguro, Living has the added value of starring one of the best versions of British actor Bill Nighy.