Never Let Me GoThe 20th century played host to an array of scientific breakthroughs and innovations, although some of them carried with them a poisoned legacy, such as the atomic bomb. I remember reading that Kazuo Ishiguro, the author of the novel, "Never Let Me Go"--from which the film was adapted--set out to tell a story in which it was not nuclear advancement which heralded our modern era, but medical innovations; the result became this story. The title card prefacing the tale explains that as these developments became entrenched in society, life spans exceeded one hundred years; it does not, however, elaborate on the resources required to maintain that change in quality of life. Hmm..."resources"...it's funny, the words we use in lieu of what we mean to say...
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Never Let Me Go would just be interesting were it devoted solely to the idea of an alternate history. While the film is, in fact, a science fiction story, it ardently defies the convention by focusing not so much on the mysteries of this other reality--which could be dystopian or utopian, depending on your place in it--but by keeping our attention rapt with the story of Kathy H, played younger by Isobel Meikle-Small, older by Carey Mulligan. Kathy lives a regimented life at the boarding school of Hailsham, along with other students, such as her friends, Ruth C (Ella Purnell/Keira Knightley) and Tommy D (Charlie Rowe/Andrew Garfield). They attend classes, have sales, and create art; but there is a sense that everything is a little off, fabricated or otherwise unlike a traditional school. The students are as happy as students will be, although key details insinuate a different scenario, even before the revelations to come are exposed. The sale the students are so excited for--from where Tommy acquires a cassette tape for Kathy which provides the name for the story, a cherished token--is altogether filled with a collection of shabby, broken toys, most likely donated to the school. The vaunted gallery becomes the battleground of the soul, where the students might exhibit their drawings, their poetry, anything which might showcase their humanity, although the significance of the event remains concealed from the children. When the newest instructor--called a "guardian"--named Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins) arrives, she is puzzled when Tommy does not retrieve a ball hit over the fence establishing the boundary of the school. The answer she receives when she inquires about it from the students is in the form of a collection of horrific stories about students who left the boundaries of Hailsham, only to end up starved to death or dismembered. Young Ruth explains that these stories, rumors spread by other students--but we suspect initiated by the staff to keep the kids in line--are so horrible that they must be true; who would make up such a story? The bitter irony of this is that Never Let Me Go is such a story, one they are living, even if they do not realize it. Miss Lucy reveals the nature of their purpose beyond the walls of Hailsham, via a story about what it is that children become when they grow up versus what these children will go on to do, their destinies prescribed and tasked, ones in which they are not altogether different than slaves...not at all. It is a truth that eludes Kathy and the rest, because they--nor almost anyone in the world they are a part of--appear to have any real cognizance to differentiate between the horrors perpetrated upon these young people and a world where such a thing is abhorrent.
Much like another work by Kazuo Ishiguro adapted to film--Remains of the Day--Never Let Me Go often says more by not explicitly saying what is going on, but rather allowing our imagination and deductive minds to do the storytelling in parts. After Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy move to a country retreat as teenagers--before they graduate to become "carers" and "donors"--they enjoy simple tasks like watching television. Ruth emulates the mannerisms of an older student staying with them, who in turn emulates the behavior of a character on a sitcom. This is their attempt to mimic life, to try to adopt and feel as a part of humanity, something this moment tells us has been deprived to them, regardless of role-playing exercises like those they experienced at Hailsham, such as how to order coffee in a cafe. One day, Kathy discovers some discarded pornographic magazines, and takes to flipping through them--not in the fashion one is typically accustomed to do, as Tommy points out--but with a kind of determination, as if she were hoping to recognize someone. It had never been established prior to this that what Kathy is looking for is her "original", a possible progenitor, her parent, because as rumors are the currency of youth, it had been rumored that the children were modeled (cloned) after people who were regarded as low in society...convicts, prostitutes, etc. Ruth has a similar experience when they go into town, it having been hinted at that a travel agency clerk might have a "striking" resemblance to her, leaving Ruth disappointed, but perhaps not surprised. They want to know where they come from, and why; and their questions go unanswered, because they have been deprived the knowledge--you do not train a chicken to perform tricks, when it is to be used to lay eggs and become dinner. Rumors continue to root their way into the hearts of the young adults, even as they take on their professions after adolescence. The biggest rumor of them all is that should a couple be truly in love, they may apply for a "deferral" from their donations, which Tommy is convinced is the reason for the gallery at Hailsham, a thought which motivates him to spend years refining the art he was never great to begin with, although he has developed into a skilled artist by sheer determination. The problem with rumors is that they are based on desire, not on fact. You may try to withhold the knowledge from a child, but this only serves to make the child suffer from misunderstanding, or fall upon the rumors with blind faith, only to see them crumple when they turn out to be false, a heartrending lesson Kathy and the others are forced to experience all too often. Never Let Me Go is finally a story about how we value life...who deserves life more than another, who is more entitled to life, what costs come in the name of convenience, and what horrors can we turn away from in the name of progress?
Recommended for: Fans of a serious and moving drama about the way people can discard the undesirable and use them in unconscionable ways. It provokes questions about the nature of the soul, and even where life begins--at conception, at birth, or if it is something that is arbitrarily decided by society; or maybe we all know better, and are shocked to see how sudden that slide down the slippery slope can be. Essentially, it is a sorrowful love story about youth slipped away too soon, reminding us to gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
Much like another work by Kazuo Ishiguro adapted to film--Remains of the Day--Never Let Me Go often says more by not explicitly saying what is going on, but rather allowing our imagination and deductive minds to do the storytelling in parts. After Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy move to a country retreat as teenagers--before they graduate to become "carers" and "donors"--they enjoy simple tasks like watching television. Ruth emulates the mannerisms of an older student staying with them, who in turn emulates the behavior of a character on a sitcom. This is their attempt to mimic life, to try to adopt and feel as a part of humanity, something this moment tells us has been deprived to them, regardless of role-playing exercises like those they experienced at Hailsham, such as how to order coffee in a cafe. One day, Kathy discovers some discarded pornographic magazines, and takes to flipping through them--not in the fashion one is typically accustomed to do, as Tommy points out--but with a kind of determination, as if she were hoping to recognize someone. It had never been established prior to this that what Kathy is looking for is her "original", a possible progenitor, her parent, because as rumors are the currency of youth, it had been rumored that the children were modeled (cloned) after people who were regarded as low in society...convicts, prostitutes, etc. Ruth has a similar experience when they go into town, it having been hinted at that a travel agency clerk might have a "striking" resemblance to her, leaving Ruth disappointed, but perhaps not surprised. They want to know where they come from, and why; and their questions go unanswered, because they have been deprived the knowledge--you do not train a chicken to perform tricks, when it is to be used to lay eggs and become dinner. Rumors continue to root their way into the hearts of the young adults, even as they take on their professions after adolescence. The biggest rumor of them all is that should a couple be truly in love, they may apply for a "deferral" from their donations, which Tommy is convinced is the reason for the gallery at Hailsham, a thought which motivates him to spend years refining the art he was never great to begin with, although he has developed into a skilled artist by sheer determination. The problem with rumors is that they are based on desire, not on fact. You may try to withhold the knowledge from a child, but this only serves to make the child suffer from misunderstanding, or fall upon the rumors with blind faith, only to see them crumple when they turn out to be false, a heartrending lesson Kathy and the others are forced to experience all too often. Never Let Me Go is finally a story about how we value life...who deserves life more than another, who is more entitled to life, what costs come in the name of convenience, and what horrors can we turn away from in the name of progress?
Recommended for: Fans of a serious and moving drama about the way people can discard the undesirable and use them in unconscionable ways. It provokes questions about the nature of the soul, and even where life begins--at conception, at birth, or if it is something that is arbitrarily decided by society; or maybe we all know better, and are shocked to see how sudden that slide down the slippery slope can be. Essentially, it is a sorrowful love story about youth slipped away too soon, reminding us to gather ye rosebuds while ye may.