The production designers went to a great deal of trouble to make this film look like it was made in the era it was set, including avoiding quick edits, softening the colour palette and using a relevant font for the film credits.
Kazuo Ishiguro had dreamed of doing a remake of To Live (1952) in English with Bill Nighy for many years. One night, he and his wife ended up sharing a cab with Nighy after a party, and he pitched the idea. Nighy had never seen Ikiru, but once he watched it, he enthusiastically signed on to the project.
Vintage 1950s colour newsreel footage was digitally cleaned up for this film to add authenticity to establishing shots of London.
Lyons Corner Houses were a chain of upmarket tea shops that, at their peak, had 250 in London alone, although their popularity declined after World War II due to changing tastes, and the last one closed in 1977.
To help him get into character, Bill Nighy purposely made his voice thinner, as if Mr. Williams had trouble getting his voice out of his body, such was the extent of his own repression.