I’m again facing a film that is getting much of its kudos based on the lead performance (see To Leslie below). And who am I to say. Bill Nighy seems to give a credible performance. But is it a stretch to play a repressed Brit who withholds all emotion? I’m not so sure. His character seems to run the gamut of emotion from A to B. An old cultural critic complained that BB King just played one note and milked it for a career. Not sure I agree, but I thought of that quote while watching this film. This feels more like a lifetime achievement award.
Now as for the film. It’s a remake of a film called Ikiru — a great film. And it is certainly as faithful as a film can be when you move the film from Japan to England. But it missed something. The bar scene in Ikiru was wonderful, and the bar scene in Living seems flaccid and perfunctory. But that’s not the real remake here. Its a good thing Merchant Ivory can’t copyright their style or they could sue for royalties. Ishiguro has got history with them so I guess it is all in the family, but this seems to be some version of throwback Thursday for the over seventy film snob crowd.
The ingenue of the film was an interesting casting. She plays the exact same character she played in the rollicking good Brit series Sex Education. Basically her Sex Education character’s grand mother. She does a fine job in both, its not a criticism just an oddity. Made me wonder if I were more familiar with British TV if I could find all the other character actors playing the exact same role in something else.
It’s a cliché to say, but sometimes clichés are clichés for a reason, but go back and watch the original. Its a gem. And I think even the academy must agree because it didn’t get sent up for anything else (well technically Ishiguro also got adapted screenplay but this REALLY feels like a lifetime achievement nod), as well it shouldn’t.
