Chitharanjan Das
This quiet and beautiful adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s science-fiction novel of the same name, shall forever count among those occasional cinematic classics that went largely unnoticed in the crowd of more mainstream offerings. The film is a sensory delight; soothing cinematography used on top of picturesque shots of the English countryside, in conjunction with violin and cello solos that serve to accentuate the particularly tragic moments. That apart, Never Let Me Go isn’t a very exciting movie; it does not hold back too many surprises, nor does it rely on spectacular special effects or CGI trickery, which we’ve come to associate with the science fiction genre.
“All of us will eventually meet our ends, without ever taking the time to really understand what we’ve lived through…”
Kathy, Tommy and Ruth are among many ‘special’ children growing up at the Hailsham boarding school, where their unfortunate fate is revealed to them at a very tender age by a concerned guardian. The children are clones being raised only for the purpose of donating their organs to support the life systems of normal human beings. After a maximum of four donations, the donor ‘completes’, reaching the end of her short life even before middle-age sets in. The largely impassive reaction of the children to this disturbing revelation is shocking, but representative of quiet submission to authority in an autocratic world.
The way in which the protagonists grapple with this heart-breaking reality for the rest of their lives forms the crux of the story, during the course of which their lives become permanently interwoven, courtesy a love-triangle. And love, once again finds its place as the single comforting element in a dystopic world. As a matter of fact, the movie makes a quiet comment on the expression of love and art as a means of living through emotionally trying times.
The only real secret that’s kept from the audiences, that of The Gallery, unleashes an overwhelming wave of tragedy as it unravels towards the end of the film, and in the process, extracts powerful performances from the lead actors. The actors deserve praise for imparting extremely human emotions to the clones, that serves to win over the sympathy of the audiences. Keira Knightley’s wiry frame adds an extra ounce of realism to the character she portrays in the later half of the film, that of the regretful, prematurely completing donor. Charlotte Rampling also does well to emphasize the cold and apathetic shades of ‘The Authority’ through her character Miss Emily.
The film presents an exaggerated view of the manner in which children around the world have to let go of their innocence before being thrown into the grind of everyday life, despite struggling to hold on. This also serves as an explanation for the title of both the movie and the book.
Never Let Me Go ends by drawing a chilling parallel between the short lives of clones and those of normal people. All of us will eventually meet our ends, without ever taking the time to really understand what we’ve lived through, and as a result will be left with the feeling of not having been given enough time to live.
Length 103 min
Stars Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley
Director Mark Romanek
Genre Science Fiction, Drama, Romance
