Living

Movie: Living

Nominated for: Best Actor

How I watched: Pasadena's new Landmark Theatre, the last screening for this film

When I fell asleep: I did not

When it had me: Credit sequence opened with a bang!

When it lost me: It did not

What systems does it challenge: White Supremacy

Content Warning: Nah

Based on: Akira Kuroasawa's Ikiru

Living was a really good watch, start to finish. The opening credits were a throwback to the 1950s. That's when the movie was set and presenting it like a movie of that era helped to establish the world immediately. Bill Nighy was really fantastic throughout and I felt throughout that the director always knew where he was taking us and how we would get there. And guys, it's under 2 hours!

I'm going to tell you that the movie is about divesting from white supremacy because that's how I received it. I wouldn't be surprised if that not what most people saw. Bill Nighy receives some news that shakes up his world and encourages him to make changes.

He begins as a quintessential supremacist. Not in the active sense that his life is about denying rights to others, but in the passive sense. He has bought into the system and all that it trains us to be and he doesn't ask questions. He is the head of a county department. He is respected/feared/disliked for his work and that's as it should be. In his position he creates bureaucratic red tape to slow down progress and change or to occasionally halt it all together, forever watch guarding the status quo. Conformity is important, as all that work in his world wear bowler hats and nearly identical suits. Emotion is eschewed and there is no hint of self expression in his life. He's a perfect englishman.

Once he knows he wants to and needs to change he begins to break the rules and drop all of the lessons of a supremacist empire. He admits to not having answers, he asks for help. He engages in self expression through song. He loses the bowler hat and decides he is fine with nonconformity. He behaves (somewhat frivolously) and seeks guidance and companionship. 

And finally, he decides to no longer stand in the way of progress. These changes are not always huge but they are hugely significant in the hands of Bill Nighy. There is a great deal of humor and care in the story. Characters are treated with a certain amount of love even when they are in the wrong. It all boils down to one question; what does it mean to live?

The more I write about it, the more I think I really loved this movie. I haven't seen the original version but I'll be sure to seek it out now.