Nobel-winner Kazuo Ishiguro pens Oscar-tipped 1950s remake 'Living'

When Kazuo Ishiguro pitched the idea of a remake (of 'Ikiru') 'that married the material of the old Kurosawa movie to a certain study of Englishness and particular kind of English gentleman,' Hollywood producer Stephen Woolley quickly persuaded the author to pen the screenplay himself. Photo: AFP

Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro has been obsessed for half a century with Ikiru, a classic Japanese film about an aging bureaucrat who after being diagnosed with cancer races to find meaning in what remains of his monotonous life.

The Japanese-born British novelist and movie buff, 68, began to imagine a remake of Akira Kurosawa's heartbreaking masterpiece, still set in its original 1950s era, but transplanted to London.