Living (2022) review

Kurosawa, anglicized: life-long bureaucrat Mr. Williams (Bill Nighy), from the Public Works department, is informed by his physician he has terminal cancer and approximately six months to live, so he contemplates suicide, goes on holiday, hangs around with office girl Ms. Harris (Aimee Lou Wood) and then, for his last work of good will on Earth, pushes for the construction of a playground for children.  I was never that fond of Ikiru (which, coincidentally, is based loosely on Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich) and unfortunately this has many of the same problems: it's egregiously self-pitying (the score is sappy, too) and the entire third act, after Williams passes on, is nothing more than an extended eulogy.  The screenplay is by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, but not even he can make this as poignant and meaningful and wise as it wants to be.  The message is universal, however: try to do positive things - no matter how small - while you still have time.