David O'ConnellNever Let Me Go
March 30th 2011 03:10
Never Let Me Go is a profoundly moving adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel about a trio of close-knit friends raised in an English boarding school. Though superficially it bears the hallmarks of a typical coming of age tale, a peculiar undercurrent develops as the true purpose behind the engineering of these young lives comes to light.
Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley) are not quite the ordinary young adults they appear to be upon leaving Hailsham as they head to The Cottages, their final waystation on the rocky road to adulthood – a time for them in which the individual freedoms and everyday assertions we take for granted will be severely compromised by a greater purpose.
Told in a non-linear fashion, Mark Romanek’s long-awaited third film (and first since his subtly sinister One Hour Photo way back in 2002), burrows under your skin in unexpected ways. The period setting evokes a sadness that clings to every subdued frame of the film with its toned-down palette, whilst Rachel Portman’s typically lucid, gorgeous score has an ebb and flow that provides the film with a paradoxical humanity beyond the meaningful gazes and hints of the burdens carried by these three endearing but fragile creatures.
The film does feel largely passive and the narrative thin - which will be alienating for some I'm sure - yet just like Ishiguro’s novel, a strange transformation takes place with scenes gradually beginning to generate an emotional weight from the vaguest of notions. Thanks largely to the skill of Garfield and Mulligan, the narrative stealthily builds to a wrenching emotional climax laced with both tragedy and haunted beauty.
Romanek, whose aborted helming of the atrocious The Wolfman last year has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, handles the material with exquisite care as if transporting precious cargo. Alex Garland’s adaptation is a rare example of faithfulness in being able to transfer an author’s tone from one medium to another.
Part unrequited love story, part search for meaning in an elliptical identity that defies definition, Never Let Me Go (2010) lingers with an understated beauty. The unexpected emotional resonance of its final scenes may come as a surprise for some who will be caught unawares by the film’s capacity for turning simple ideas into complex responses.
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Comment by Matt Shea
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I found this one lingered with me for a while after the final credits faded. Some really poignant ideas and ripe emotion.
Romanek's restraint makes up for a lot of perceived sappiness.
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic