Here are two reviews I wrote a while back for Never Let Me Go. I read and wrote the book review before the film's release. Whilst I felt the film lacked some of the emotional depth that the book delivers, it made the story far easier to condense and is one of my favourite films of the year so far.
Contains Spoilers.
Contains Spoilers.
Never Let Me Go - Film.
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| Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan as Tommy and Kathy in Never Let Me Go. |
Never Let Me Go is an usual, yet emotional book that has now been adapted into an unusual, yet emotional film.
The film stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield as author Kazuo Ishiguro's donors, who are groomed from the moment of their cloning to fulfill their self-sacrificial destinies. Whilst attending a special School for donors in the English countryside know as Hailsham, they are told that they are different from normal people and are to strive to keep themselves fit and healthy. Kathy H (Mulligan), the film and novel's narrator, leads us through the trio's journey from children full of questions to young adults devastated by the answers.
The film has had mixed reviews, annoyingly by some who most likely haven't even read the book. To criticise the feature for being an odd take on science-fiction isn't fair, as the screenplay has been adapted from an already published take on the genre. The English scenery mixed with the quiet, fresh faces of the film's actors is what makes the story all the more disconcerting. It doesn't present total dystopia, the characters aren't falling apart at the seams with high-tech spaceships parked in their drives. This, for me, is exactly why it works. The heartbreak and despair of the characters is mixed perfectly with their acceptance of the way their life has been determined. The story is an exploration of ethics and humanity, and for me the actors smartly displayed that whilst their characters were clones, they definitely had souls.
It's a thought-provoking film in which dialogue and action is scarce, but certain scenes linger long after you've left them behind. There's an uncomfortable shot of Ruth, (Knightley), pale and still on the operating table as a surgeon removes her organ and then leaves her there, dead and undignified. A fate predetermined for her kind and therefore perfectly acceptable for the surgeon. The end scene was also a strong translation of Ishiguro's written message. Kathy H describes how, although seen as an inhumane creature, she doesn't feel that life as a human would be any different. People tend to accept their fate. We all know we're going to die and yet we just get on. The film portrays this brilliantly, with Kathy showing early signs of pain at her predetermined fate, and yet choosing to get on and appreciate whatever she may have.
I really enjoyed the film, and found it much easier to digest than the novel, which tended to go off on tangents and confuse my sense of time with its non-chronological timeline. I think the characters were beautifully crafted and that director Mark Romanek's adaptation brought the book to an even better life.
Never Let Me Go - Book.
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| Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel. |
I decided to read Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel, Never Let Me Go, after hearing that the film adaptation of the novel had earned positive responses from viewers at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival. I didn't have a clue what it was about and therefore didn't know what to expect.
I remember thinking in the first chapter that the story was told in an odd way. The first person perspective comes from Kathy H, who we learn is a carer for donors and is about to finish this role at the end of the year; somewhere in the late 1990s. She spends most of the story reminiscing about her time at Hailsham, a boarding School in the English Countryside.Here she makes her most significant friendships, becoming closest to Ruth and Tommy. Whilst we are kept somewhat in the shadows as to what carers and donors really means within the context of the story, the students at Hailsham seem to continue their daily routine 'knowing but not knowing.' What they do know for sure, is that they are not like the guardians at Hailsham, or the people in the outside world. Instead, these students are 'special' and it is od up-most mportance that they stay healthy. They have no parents or family, just the guardians, who are there to encourage them to remain healthy as well as be creative. This is in order to have their work submitted to 'The Gallery,' although none of the students seem privy to what the gallery actually is. Kathy, Ruth and Tommy therefore grow to be three confused teenagers, set on a predetermined path, unaware of the heartbreak that the path will bring.
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| Isobel Meikle as they young Kathy H in Never Let Me Go. |
There is also a love Triangle, with Ruth and Tommy beginning a serious relationship once the students are moved from Hailsham and into the Cottages to being adult life. The reader can sense, however, the feelings between Kathy and Tommy that have been apparent since childhood when they both began to question what Hailsham was really about.
As the story begins to unravel, you find yourself unable to put the book down. It took me a while to fully get into it, often put off by the strange structure used by Ishiguro, meaning that the novel wasn't as cohesive as I would have liked. Kathy would often say: 'But I'll tell you about that later', and I'd find myself rolling my eyes thinking 'no just bloody tell me now!' I did, however, shed a few tears as the story came to a close and the characters embraced their fate. It owes a lot to Huxley's Brave New World in the way it examines the stepping order of human lives. Unlike Huxley's masterpiece, however, Never Let Me Go isn't one of my favourites, as the writing style and structure let the story down. I am still hoping to see the film out of sheer curiosity as to how the characters will transform on to screen, and with Carey Mulligan set to play Kathy, I'm sure I won't be too disappointed.
A rare example of a film adaptation I preferred to the original book.
