Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru follows a man who receives a terminal diagnosis. This
bureaucrat decides to stop “killing time” as he has done for so many years, and begins truly
living a life of service and compassion with the small time he has remaining. A remake from
director Oliver Hermanus, with a script written by Kazuo Ishiguro, Living features Bill Nighy in the lead role held by Takashi Shimura in the 1952 film. While practically the same story, there are slight variations in the narrative structure, in character interactions, and of course, the setting.
Many remakes of classic films ultimately bear little fruit, but Hermanus’ film justifies its
existence whilst paying respect to the beautiful thematic storytelling of its inspiration. The time that we have in life is finite, but the legacy we leave in our wake has the potential to last far beyond our earthly presence. What we do with that limited time is an individual decision for each of us to make. — Thomas Manning, Co-host of Meet me at the Movies