It’s almost cliché, is it not? A man not figuring out how to live until he has been told he is going to die. I have a feeling this is a movie thing, not a real life thing; I could be wrong, of course. But as a movie thing, it has been done a few times. And yet, it’s a cliché that doesn’t really get tired because we all love to see people fighting before they kick it. We all imagine that’s how we’ll go instead of watching “Matlock” and complaining to random orderlies.
In order to understand the setting, I want you to picture “Parks & Rec” only humorless, dated, and English. That’s where we are, a London Parks Department where five stuffy men and one potentially stuffy woman sit around a table with stacks a paper as their only cover from boring eyes. The name of the game is “pass the buck” where every request goes to die, quietly, and without fanfare. Mr. Rodney Williams (Bill Nighy) is the head of this dull hydra. It is sad how mundane his life seems. Work. Train. Home. Sleep. Train. Work. Train. Home. Sleep. Etc. etc. You win, film, I agree: this life is dull.
Then Mr. Rodney Williams gets the “six months to live” speech. Weeeelllllll, now, you gotta something. What is Rodney gonna do in his remaining time?
Oh, blast. Leave it to the English; he doesn’t even know how to have a good time … and we know this because his character actually says something to the effect of “I don’t know how to have a good time.” Seriously. This man’s idea of a wild ride is trading his bowler for a fedora. Geez, pops, what do you do for fun? Watch BBC news? Go to church? Fill a bird feeder?
Good God is this film ever English; even the mourning is English. ( A supreme irony given the film was written by a Japanese man, Kazuo Ishiguro, and based on Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru) The biggest question at this point is
whether or not widower Rodney is going to tell his son and daughter-in-law. My guess is, “no.” After all, the inevitable emotional scene to follow would violate all English sensibilities.
Here’s the thing, in the movies, one can only realize he’s dying for so long before he understands that pencil-pushing is a stupid sport. You got six months to live? Freaking do something that will make you happy, pal … and that’s when Living goes from dull to mildly enjoyable. It’s strange how the best part of this film exists after Rodney dies and his colleagues and well-wishers piece together how he lived his remaining months.
Living is dull for a while, perhaps not unlike life itself. Even when Mr. Rodney is finding his inner party animal, it’s less like a rabid hyena, and more like a comatose penguin. Letting loose in the world of post-WWII English bureaucracy means loosening your necktie. However, the film gets stronger as it goes along and will likely leave the attentive viewer with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye. If only all Living could be like that.
There once was an English bureaucrat
Who shuffled paperwork from this to that
Until, finding he was dying
He spent his life vying
To assemble a prelim committee, stat!
Rated PG-13, 102 Minutes
Director: Oliver Hermanus
Writer: Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Never too late?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The terminally frustrated
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Action fiends
