Dear Friends,
A Movie Review of Sorts
“Living is a 2022 British historical drama film… [set] in 1953 London.”1
Until his diagnosis with a fatal illness, Mr. Williams had been the epitome of all that is good, and not so good, of the stereotypical bureaucrat – extremely dependable and proper, but not actually getting much done. A small group of women seeking help to have a playground built, while endlessly being shuffled from one department to the next, is symbolic of the studied inactivity of the entire office’s culture.
Other than his work, few know much about Mr. Williams – neither his coworkers nor his son; not even he himself. At one point he learns that one coworker gave him the nickname ‘Mr. Zombie,’ not quite living, but not quite dead.
Immediately after the diagnosis he refrains from going to work and seeks an answer to what it means to live. He needed to realize he was dying to begin trying to live. But what does ‘living’ even look like?
This is the premise of the movie. What follows [spoiler alert] is a brief reflection on his journey and the lessons we can learn.
He basically tries three approaches to a more fulfilling life.
First, he meets a kind but dissolute young man, who, feeling sorry for the terminally ill gentleman, wants to show him a good time. This consists of visiting bars and a burlesque show. It is clearly unfulfilling and leaves Mr. Williams sicker than before and his younger guide standing silently by in the face of suffering and impending death.
Second, Mr. Williams incidentally encounters a younger female coworker who is seeking employment elsewhere and is also out of the office. They have lunch, more than once, and he finds solace in her kindness and genuine friendship. He is even able to finally share his diagnosis with her. Nevertheless, albeit pure, his friendship is too clingy, and she can only spend so much time with him. She has her own life to lead.
Finally, like a flash, it occurs to him to return to work to help the women build their playground. This is no small feat given the bureaucratic maze awaiting him. But he knows the terrain well and what it takes to move things along. He drives the project—through countless visits to various offices and the worksite, through rain and snow—to finally see the task completed. It is in this selfless service that he finds joy before dying—and touches many lives in the process.
In perhaps the most poignant moment of the movie, we see Mr. Williams alone on a snowy night in his now completed playground. Sitting on a swing and gently swaying, he sings a joyful tune to himself with a smile on his face.
Mr. Williams had to realize he was dying before he began to live.
Save the church setting for Mr. Williams’ funeral, there is no mention of God or faith in the movie. Nevertheless, it is deeply spiritual because it taps into the basic truth often communicated by St. John Paul II: Central to the human struggle is to “make oneself into a gift, and in doing so, to live out one’s destiny as a creature made in the image of God.”2
See the movie. But more importantly, let’s not wait until we are dying to start living.
In Christ,
Fr. John Bullock, LC
Author of A Cyclist’s Spirituality and A Heart Like Jesus: A Regnum Christi Essay on Contemplating and Imitating Jesus.
1 cf. Living (2022 film) – Wikipedia
2 George Weigel. Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II . HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 2009, 115.
