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British phlegm is a holdover from the colonial era, says Ishiguro, 2017 Nobel Literature winner

2022-12-23T11:06:23.749Z


The Japanese-born British novelist wrote the screenplay for Oliver Hermanus' film Living, starring the talented actor Bill Nighy.


What happened to the famous British phlegm?

The question obsesses the Nobel Prize for Literature Kazuo Ishiguro who wrote the screenplay for

Vivre.

This film by Oliver Hermanus will be released in French cinemas on Wednesday 28 December.

It depicts the story of a civil servant who is too stuck in his principles, who, on the verge of death, will gradually open up to others.



Anchored in 1950s England, the story echoes another story.

The one that made Kazuo Ishiguro a literary phenomenon:

The Remains of the Day

, also adapted for the big screen with Anthony Hopkins.

Two texts rooted in the past for a reason.

Because this famous phlegm, which would even be part of the British identity, is difficult to find in present-day Britain, with its bombastic politicians and its royal family which is publicly torn apart, assures the one who grew up in the United Kingdom and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.

“There are not many left on the surface”

, he confessed in an interview with AFP, and carried out by telephone from London.

Then, to reinforce his thesis, he immediately added:

“I saw him fall apart as he grew up.

The death of Princess Diana was an interesting marker of how far Britain has come... Of what a proper display of

Read alsoDiscover the trailer for Living: facing the passage of time and death Bill Nighy cleaves the armor

According to him, this reserve, which often passes for coldness, is a legacy of the British colonial past, the former largest empire in the world.

And he explains this cultural phenomenon thus:

“The British middle and upper classes were trained to present this kind of facade to their colonial subjects.

Imagine coming out of horrible boarding school only to find yourself at 19 in a sweltering climate, with hardly any friends, having to keep that facade up because you have to represent the superior race."

According to him, the two world wars also contributed a great deal to the persistence of this character trait.

He even dares to draw a parallel with the war in Ukraine:

“I'm sure people in Ukraine right now are also feeling that pressure.

You don't start panicking and screaming how you feel."

Kurosawa's

Ikuru

remake

Remake of the film

Ikuru

by the master of Japanese cinema Akira Kurosawa,

Vivre

has a particular resonance for the writer, who, as the child of Japanese immigrants from the middle class, never aspired to greatness.

"You have to do things for themselves in a way that really satisfies you

," he says.

The film taught me that making a special effort can transform a small empty life into a magnificent life”

.



Despite his Nobel Prize Kazuo Ishiguro keeps a certain distance from his success:

“I was incredibly lucky and ended up where I am today but there is a part of me that thinks the assessment of success and failure should be something private."

Living

by Oliver Hermanus in

2022, screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro, with Bill Nighy, Almee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp

...



When it came to defending the

Vivre

project , Kazuo Ishiguro insisted that Bill Nighy, known for his role as a rock star on the comeback in

Love actually

, play the main role.

He has since been up for a Golden Globe.

More than any other actor, he is able to represent this English spirit, this way of being

, explains the writer.

What is difficult with this kind of character is that it is easy to pass for someone cold.

We need his charm

.

Despite a very “ British



” atmosphere

, the film has a universal scope.

“We all have this battle within us: there is both the fear of exposing ourselves to others but also this burning desire to connect with others and not to be condemned to isolation and loneliness”

, a concluded this novelist who has become for

Vivre

... scriptwriter.

Source: lefigaro

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