Living

[sashagabadon]

Just back. Loved it and audience did too. Lovely story, sad, funny, great acting, script, everything. Almost a perfect film for me ( and I thought it might be a bit boring but it wasn’t)

It is not showing on my local cinema yet - Vue. They are still showing Halloween films.

I found it slow and pedestrian - not entirely without charm, but overall a plodding bore.

I really want to see this. Dh has Friday off and I was going to try and persuade him to see it with me, he usually enjoys Bill Nighy films but bit worried now, if it’s slow he’ll bore of it (He usually likes action packed crap). Perhaps I should go alone.

I was a bit disappointed by it. Thought he was going to go off and do something really exciting. It was a bit plodding, as a PP said.

I loved it - beautifully filmed, beautifully acted and thought provoking. My OH loved it too and he's not much of a film fan

I absolutely loved it and I’m not one to rave about a film. Billy Nighy was superb. I think he get a lot of nominations for this. Everything about the production was excellent but the music stood out for me. My dh though, who loves Bill Nighy, thought it was slow and boring.

That’s what he first thought of doing - hence the raucous night out -but he eventually discovered what would give him joy at the end of his life - making sure
the playground got built to give the children happiness.

I've often said that Bill Nighy plays Bill Nighy. This was an exception, easily his best performance I have ever seen.

I think slow and boring was the point, life can be boring eg. when he had to wait all day at the 'parks' department to get anything done. But he was determined to do it and his determination meant he was 'living'.
Living doesn't have to be exciting, it's more about having a meaning.
I enjoyed it and would recommend.

I’m so glad to see a thread about this ! It never did appear in my local Vue so I had to go a bit further afield to see it. From the trailer, I thought it was going to be Bill Nighy travelling the world or doing crazy things and he did try the hedonistic lifestyle initially but it was just not him. Then he discovered something that really mattered.

i thought it was superb

I thought it was awful. He didn’t change himself, change anyone else and so much of the story didn’t ring true. Writing a confidential letter to a young colleague who he hardly met. Building the playground was such a pedestrian event to mark a life. It was dull and boring and I didn’t care about any of the characters.

It was perfect. Every shot and every word said so much - I don't know how anyone could find it boring! Beautifully filmed, and Bill Nighy is excellent. Even the sound was spot on - the excruciating dinner scene, with the serving spoons clanking on the china... just brilliant.

Completely agree!

I thought it was beautiful. I always love Ishiguro's writing. Nighy's performance was sublime, the locations and costumes were perfect, the music wonderful.

Like Jane Austen's "little piece of ivory, two inches wide" it's a study of a small, constrained life and how he found meaning. Moving and beautiful.