(For Day 5 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem describing how two or three different things perceive the same thing, with the example being how an old woman, a tulip, and a dog view being blessed. In keeping with this film, I imagined how those connected to a playground would view that place of fun.)

What is a playground?
Depends on who answers.

For kids, it is joy,
A chance to get higher
Than a small girl or boy
Ever could on their own,
To conquer the jungle,
To swing to the sky, or
To know they won’t crumble
When tripped by a stone.

For a parent, it’s peace,
Even for a short respite,
Like shepherds releasing
Their flock to the field.
A simple distraction
If ever they’re desperate,
They bask in inaction
And keep their eyes peeled.

And what of the no-name
Who built that location,
Who garners no fame
Yet has brought joy and peace?
He sits at a distance
In gratification
To watch their elation,
Such a simple foundation,
And knows his existence
Will only increase.
______________________

MPA rating:  PG-13 (mainly for poignant subject matter but quite tame)

I know I probably should have first watched Ikiru, Akira Kurosawa’s classic film about a government bureaucrat dealing with his own mortality, but I was on my plane to Ireland last year and had a prime chance to watch Living, the British remake with Bill Nighy in the same situation. Nighy is undoubtedly a fine actor, with memorable roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean series and About Time, so it really is surprising that he had never received an Oscar nomination before this film. But he excels in the role on which the entire film rests, as Rodney Williams, a stuffy bureaucrat in post-War Britain, solemn and dour, his workplace “rather like church,” according to his chatting coworkers. His strict routine of coming and going to work on the train each day is disturbed by a sudden cancer diagnosis, and he is forced to come to terms with the fact his life has likewise come and gone with little in the way of joy or meaning. Buoyed by the companionship of a young friend (Aimee Lou Wood), the waning pencil pusher decides on a small way he can break from his inflexible mold.

Living is a laudable prestige picture, shot and acted with a noble dignity reminiscent of yesteryear classics and boasting an elegant screenplay by acclaimed author Kazuo Ishiguro. Nighy exemplifies how complacent routine yields to personal regret, and even if he couldn’t compete with Brendan Fraser in The Whale, he certainly gives an Oscar-worthy performance. It may be easily overshadowed by the flashier Oscar bait, but Living is a subtly meaningful film that puts our daily grind into much-needed perspective.

Best line: (Williams) “I wonder if you ever stop on the way home and watch the children playing. In the street, or in the yard. And when the time comes and their mothers call them in, they’re often reluctant. They, they get a little contrary, but that’s as it should be. Far better than to be the child you occasionally see, he’s sitting by himself in the corner not taking part, not happy, not unhappy, merely waiting for his mother to call him in. I’ve become afraid that I might end up like that child. And I so very much do not wish to do so.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

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