Living

I said I was done with this year's Oscar slate. 

I mean it this time.

The last film on my 95th Oscar docket is Living, in which director Oliver Hermanus and author Kazuo Ishiguro transplant Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru, itself a transplant of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, to London. The biggest obstacle to me renting it was its $19.99 rental tag. I paid it, but I'd rather not pay that price that often.

Mr. Williams (Bill Nighy) is the stuffy head of the London County Council in 1953. The other council members notice his humdrum life, particularly Ms. Harris (Aimee Lou Wood), who nicknames him Mr. Zombie. That life is cut short once Williams gets diagnosed with stomach cancer. He only has six months left. He takes a holiday by the seaside, where he spends a night on the town with local writer Mr. Sutherland (Tom Burke). It isn't until he meets up with Ms. Harris, who left the bureaucracy in his absence, that he regains his passion for life. He still needs to make a difference, like with a playground project he keeps putting off. 

It's no surprise that Williams eventually dies. What may surprise you is that he dies during the last half-hour. He sets out to build the playground and it goes to his funeral. We see in flashbacks how he got the project going. That's similar to Ikiru's structure, but it's still a bit of a slog to the finish line. Ikiru's Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) dies just under 93 minutes out of 143. This film is 104 minutes long, and that last half-hour felt just as long. It was still good to see his co-workers discuss how to honor his legacy, even if they give up immediately. It's more moving to see one of those co-workers, Mr. Waekling (Alex Sharp), talk to the constable who last saw the old man alive. It's also nice to see Waekling and Harris get together at the end.

Nighy himself makes the film worth it. Once Williams gets the diagnosis, he sits alone at home as his son, Michael (Barney Fishwick) and daughter-in-law, Fiona (Patty Ferran), walk in. He clearly wants to break the news to them, but he can't bring himself to do it. It's a strong scene that surely helped Nighy get his first Oscar nomination. A later scene where Williams rehearses another attempt is equally effective. The film isn't all doom and gloom, though, as we see Mr. Williams get to enjoy life. His chemistry with Ms. Harris is endearing, while his night with Mr. Burke is enjoyable. We're not really sad when Mr. Williams goes, for he's quite content in his last scene.

So, what happens in the last scene? Mr. Williams simply swings in the snow at his playground. The snowy cityscape photographed by cinematographer Jamie D. Ramsay is alluring. In fact, Ramsay's work is impressive throughout the film, including in its old-time opening credit sequence. Those scenes are punctuated by a melancholic, yet soothing score, by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. We also get some impressive sets in its recreation of old London. The council headquarters, for example, embodies their stuffy bureaucracy before we see it at play. The playground site is quite impressive before and after the construction.

Living is a bittersweet movie that leans towards sweet. Its main character dies, but he finally lived a happy life, while a few others learn to do so as well. That main character and his last scene make the slow and steady plot worth it. This is a great movie to end this year's Oscar checklist on. I now wait for the results as I prepare for this year's upcoming films. Time to live.