Kurosawa’s ‘Ikiru’ Comes Back to Life in ‘Living’
'Living' dives into many themes that we can all understand regardless of our cultural backgrounds. We can see this through the shared similarities between 'Ikiru' and 'Living'.

British band Simply Red paved their way onto the charts with three well-received albums, but it was their fourth that really set the band apart from other soul-influenced acts. With 1991's STARS, the group explored new avenues, adding hip-hop inspired elements to their already established soul grooves. This approach proved to be popular with fans, and STARS sold more copies than any of their previous efforts, staying on the top of the UK charts for a total of 19 weeks. As part of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series, this documentary features song and video clips from STARS, accompanied by revealing interviewsThe band discuss at length how they approached writing music for this groundbreaking album, with various managers and producers of the band offering insight into its recording and production process.
'Living' dives into many themes that we can all understand regardless of our cultural backgrounds. We can see this through the shared similarities between 'Ikiru' and 'Living'.
In a film where a Black couple is framed to be the lead characters, they still managed to get shuffled off to the sidelines. The enthusiastic cast delivers well on goofy bits- but can only go so far before they begin to fall flat.
Produced by Vanguard Animation and released on Netflix, this animated fairytale movie has a lot of ironies as the story is told by the prince himself.
As a whole, Sightless pushed boundaries between illusion and reality. It made viewers question if there really is a difference. Ellen was strong, brave, and even compassionate given her situation. She was a force to be reckoned with.
This film was filled with great plot points. Unfortunately, they all contradicted each other and clashed. Had the premise of Awake been more consistent and accurately portrayed the real world aspect, I think this could have been an extreme success.