In 1953, London continues to rebuild eight years after the Second World War ended. At the Office of Public Works, officials are overwhelmed, so the divisions are passing the buck. Many orphan queries end up on stacks. And nothing happens. This stagnation is in this case a reflection of the existence of Mr. Williams, who heads one of these divisions. However, when his doctor tells him that he won’t have much longer, Mr. Williams decides… to live. Written by Nobel Prize for Literature Kazuo Ishiguro, Living (Live) offers Bill Nighy the role of his career. In an exclusive interview, the two men explain why this remake ofIkiruby Akira Kurosawa, was so important to them.
“I grew up with the original, which I first saw when I was 11. It immediately became a very important film for me, because it was unusual to see Japanese films in England at the time,” says the writer and screenwriter who left Japan with his parents at the age of five.
“At the time, I went to school every morning by train, and I passed all these office workers, with their bowler hats and their umbrellas…”
Diffusely, these gentlemen who reminded him of the civil servants in Ikiru allowed him to weave a subliminal link between Japan and England. To remember the author:
“For years, I believed that one day, I would swap my school uniform for their uniform. »
This vivid memory was repeated identically for the opening of Living — Ikiru rather begins with the diagnosis of generalized cancer. Exactly, why did Kazuo Ishiguro want to redo this film he loves so much?
“On the one hand, I wanted the message ofIkiru touches new generations and, on the other hand, it is not Kurosawa’s title that is seen the most. We talk more about movies Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, The Spider’s Castle… »
What Kazuo Ishiguro opened up to his friend Stephen Woolley, producer of the films The Crying Game (The cry of tears), Interview with the Vampire (Interview with a Vampire), carol…
“Stephen was thrilled and asked me to write the script, which wasn’t in my initial plans: I just wanted someone to do the film. »
A heroic gesture
Kazuo Ishiguro accepted none the less willingly. Especially since he knew for whom he would write the role of Mr. Williams: Bill Nighy.
“I was bowled over by Kazuo’s script. I knew this type of character well, these men of the past forced to act with restraint in everything, which implied on their part, in my gaze fascinated as a child, a whole bunch of bizarre mannerisms. The idea of playing, I liked it a lot, “recalls the actor who made his debut in the 1970s, but who did not know the consecration until 2003 thanks to his irresistible composition as a singer. has-been in Love Actually (Really love).
Since then, we have seen him in a plethora of films, from the insidious Notes on a Scandal (Chronicle of a scandal), to blockbusters Pirates of the Caribbean (Pirates of the Caribbeanin sprawling Davy Jones), passing by the surprise success The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Welcome to Marigold Hotel) and its sequel.
We live in difficult times, and I think this film can help, a little
“The film deals with two subjects that affect me: mortality, which I think about more and more as I grow older, and procrastination, a tendency that I am very, very good at. I’m a high-flying procrastinator,” says Bill Nighy, smirking.
“But seriously, the film explores a variety of themes without highlighting them: existential balance sheet, regrets, serenity in the face of death…”
The words of Kazuo Ishiguro go in the same direction: “This observation that even being the prisoner of a monotonous job, and even when approaching death, it is possible to find meaning in one’s life and to make a difference , to make a heroic gesture, inspired me a lot. »
This “heroic gesture” comes when Mr. Williams decides one day not to send a request to gather dust on a pile. On the contrary, he will struggle so that this one, which concerns the costly transformation of contaminated land into a children’s park in a disadvantaged neighborhood, succeeds.
“I was born during this period, and I could very well have been one of those children who play in this park”, notes Bill Nighy, who reveals in the same breath that this is another aspect of the story that seduced him.
“Generally speaking, it’s only once I’ve completely learned the text that I start looking for the character’s voice, his posture… I like that the character comes to me almost without my knowledge. In this case, however, I think that if we had started filming the same day I received the script, I would have played it the same way. Despite the research and the work that I have done, the essentials of Williams, its idiosyncrasies, its late revival… I think I grasped it all right away, intuitively. »
Complex emotions
Knowing this, we will not be surprised to feel throughout a perfect match between the actor and the role, a patent match also between the screenwriter and the story.
“The message ofIkiru accompanied me throughout my life, reiterates Kazuo Ishiguro. This film probably influenced the way I write my novels. »
Moreover, in the first part of the film, Williams is reminiscent of Stevens, the butler protagonist of the novel The Remains of the Day (The remnants of the day, winner of the Booker Prize and become a remarkable film). The two characters, who are presented through professions consisting of a series of ritualized actions, are apparently devoid of emotion or a life of their own. With the difference that Williams, he will come out of his existential torpor.
“It’s true,” Kazuo Ishiguro agrees. I’ve always been interested in how people protect themselves in certain situations. There is, however, a fundamental difference between them: Williams was not always like this. He mourns his deceased wife. Williams has known love, while Stevens awakens to it, but too late…”
One is reborn before dying, while the other is as if dead while alive: two sides of the same coin. In this, Living is part of the luminous side of the work of Kazuo Ishiguro, to whom we also owe the novel never let me go (Always with meand another great movie).
“We live in difficult times, and I think this film can help a little,” says Bill Nighy. Living talks about humanity, benevolence, compassion, accountability, the importance of opening up to others, the need to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us… I tell myself that launching all that in the world can’t hurt. I have the luxury, later on, of being able to choose my projects. I alternate big stuff, and smaller films whose message is close to my heart; films that I hope can make a difference, however small. »
This brings the actor even closer to Mr. Williams.
“There is more hope in our film than in that of Kurosawa, which was more pessimistic”, abounds Kazuo Ishiguro, who concludes:
“It’s easy to bring tears to audiences with a certain type of dramatic material, knowing that people come to the cinema ready to cry. On the other hand, it is more difficult to elicit a deep emotional reaction when exploring a subject as complex as mortality. Here, sadness rubs shoulders with joy, and this doomed character triumphs in the end, but alone: it’s bittersweet. In short, moving the public by presenting something like this is complicated. But when you get there, and I hope we got there, it gives a film that you don’t forget, that stays. »
Let him be reassured: such is the case.
The film Living hits theaters January 13.