Living: Kazuo Ishiguro talks remaking Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru

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Exclusive: The Nobel Prize-winning novelist talks to Total Film about his latest big-screen project

Bill Nighy in Living
(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Why are we here? What is our purpose? What does it all mean? For millennia, philosophers from Plato to Monty Python have pondered the biggest question of them all: the meaning of life. Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 humanist masterpiece Ikiru answers this question about as well as any film ever has. Among those shaped by the Tao of Kurosawa was a then-18-year-old Kazuo Ishiguro. 

"It’s no exaggeration to say that [Ikiru] affected the way I approach my own life and my career," the Nobel Prize-winning novelist and (very) occasional screenwriter tells Total Film in the new issue of the magazine, featuring Enola Holmes 2 on the cover. "It’s always kind of guided me."

The story of a buttoned-up government bureaucrat who finds renewed purpose when he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness, Ikiru resonates not because its tragic central figure undergoes a simplistic Christmas Carol transformation, but because he chooses to make the most of the hand he’s been dealt. "Even if you think it’s a small life – it’s not that small," Ishiguro says. “You can find real meaning in it. I just thought this was such a wonderful idea, and I thought it was a true idea.”

The idea to reimagine Ikiru originated with Ishiguro. Though born in Nagasaki, The Remains Of The Day and Never Let Me Go novelist moved to Britain in 1960 when he was five years old, and later became a student of pre- and post-WW2 British cinema. Identifying key cultural similarities between early ’50s England and Japan, Ishiguro had long felt that it would be an interesting exercise to transpose Ikiru’s still-resonant story into "a certain kind of British film that’s disappeared".

The final result is Living, a remake of Kurosawa’s films that's been scripted by Ishiguro and directed by Moffie's Oliver Hermanus. It stars Bill Nighy as the lead – above, we have an exclusive image from Living.

You can read more from the team behind Living – which hits UK cinemas on November 4 – in the new issue of Total Film when it hits stands (and digital devices) this Thursday, October 13. The issue also features our in-depth interviews with the Enola Holmes 2 cast, along with a career retrospective with Daniel Radcliffe and a feature on The Banshees of Inisherin.

Total Film's Enola Holmes 2 issue

(Image credit: Netflix/Total Film)

And if you’re a fan of Total Film, why not subscribe so that you never miss an issue? You’ll have it delivered to your door before it’s in shops, you’ll save money on the cover price, and you’ll get exclusive subscriber-only covers. Plus, with the current offer you can get a free pair of EarFun headphones worth £55. Head to MagazinesDirect to find out more (Ts and Cs apply).

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(Image credit: Total Film)
Matt Maytum
Matt Maytum
Former Editor of Total Film magazine

Matt Maytum is the former Editor of Total Film magazine. Over the past decade, Matt has worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.