FILM #37
OF 39
95TH ACADEMY AWARDS | 2023 OSCARS CHALLENGE
“LIVING”
MARCH 5, 2023
STREAMING
DAY 41
OF 48
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Bill Nighy
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
Based on “Ikiru” by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Hideo Oguni
In “Living,” a retelling of Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru,” Bill Nighy plays a county bureaucrat diagnosed with a terminal illness that reflects on his life. After spending much of his life behind a desk, the diagnosis opens his eyes to venturing outside his comfort zone. He befriends a writer in a restaurant and follows him on a night of drinking, singing, and dancing ladies in the 1950s.
Initially, I saw this film as part of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and at first glance, it hit me as trite. But sitting with it this time and watching Bill Nighy’s performance much closer, it landed with much more of an emotional impact. Its approach is modest, as Nighy’s character befriends a former employee, who he takes to dinner and movies. He avoids telling those close to him of his diagnosis and focuses on completing a task at his job for a group of ladies trying to get a playground built.
Nighy plays a quiet demeanor, but thoughtful eyes spell a much bigger story. Even though he’s playing an older man spending time with a young woman, he’s such a gentleman; there’s an innocence to it. It could have easily come off creepy if another actor had played it. I cannot speak to the comparisons because I have not seen Kurosawa’s original. But given a chance, “Living” is a moving tale of ensuring you live your life to the fullest.
PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS
BILL NIGHY
| First-time nominee |
Kazuo Ishiguro
| First-time nominee |
In 1950s London, a humorless civil servant decides to take time off work to experience life after receiving a grim diagnosis.
Directed by Oliver Hermanus
Sony Pictures Classics
December 23, 2022
102 minutes
ACCOLADES
BAFTA Awards — Best Screenplay (Adapted) (Nominee)
BAFTA Awards — Best Leading Actor (Nominee)
Screen Actors Guild Awards — Male Actor in a Leading Role (Nominee)
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards — Best Screenwriter [Winner]
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
British Independent Film Awards — Best Screenplay (Nominee)
British Independent Film Awards — Best Lead Performance (Nominee)
Chicago Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Critics Choice Awards — Best Adapted Screenplay (Nominee)
Critics Choice Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Golden Globe Awards — Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Nominee)
International Online Cinema Awards — Best Adapted Screenplay (Nominee)
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards — Best Adapted Screenplay (Nominee)
London Critics Circle Film Awards — British/Irish Actor of the Year [Winner]
Los Angeles Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Lead Performance [Winner]
National Board of Review Awards — Top Ten Independent Films [Winner]
National Society of Film Critics Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Online Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
San Fran. Bay Area Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Adapted Screenplay (Nominee)
San Fran. Bay Area Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Satellite Awards — Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama (Nominee)
Satellite Awards — Best Screenplay, Adapted (Nominee)
USC Scripter Award Awards — USC Scripter Award/Film (Nominee)
Women Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
1. Brendan Fraser — “The Whale”
2. Austin Butler — “Elvis”
3. Colin Farrell — “The Banshees of Inisherin”
4. Bill Nighy — “Living”
5. Paul Mescal — “Aftersun”
PERSONAL PREDICTIONS
1. Austin Butler — “Elvis”
2. Colin Farrell — “The Banshees of Inisherin”
3. Brendan Fraser — “The Whale”
4. Bill Nighy — “Living”
5. Paul Mescal — “Aftersun”
Best Writing (ADAPTED Screenplay)
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
1. “Women Talking” — Sarah Polley
2. “All Quiet on the Western Front” — Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
3. “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” — Rian Johnson
4. “Top Gun: Maverick” — Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
5. “Living” — Kazuo Ishiguro
PERSONAL PREDICTIONS
1. “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” — Rian Johnson
2. “Women Talking” — Sarah Polley
3. “All Quiet on the Western Front” — Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
4. “Living” — Kazuo Ishiguro
5. “Top Gun: Maverick” — Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
