Never Let Me Go
Carey Mulligan is one of those rare talents. She has all the makings of an actress that could venture into franchises, big blockbuster movies and become a name that everyone talks about. However, she is extremely selective about the characters she plays (as read in this incredible interview.) While some may see that as a bad career choice, it is highly admirable thing to do. Mulligan will be in the latest Coen Brother’s film Inside Llewyn Davis but her previous efforts see her as the suicidal jazz singer Sissy in the incredible Steve McQueen movie Shame. And she gasps her way through as Daisy in Baz Lurhmann’s The Great Gatsby. That being said, she is truly an extraordinary British talent and none of that is clear than her unassuming role as Kathy H in Never Let Me Go
Of all the “dystopian futures” that many have seen (because there are many, many) this one seems hauntingly realistic. Never Let Me Go is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It tells of an alternative history where a medical breakthrough extends life to 100 years. Told retrospectively from Kathy as a carer waiting for her patient to undergo operation, it tells her days at school with her friends Tommy and Ruth. As they progress through life, it soon becomes apparent that the children are there for a very sinister purpose and that their span doesn’t quite reach that elusive 100 years.
Having never read the book (a fact that I am trying to rectify,) so the inevitable comparisons don’t go far (although I’ve heard that Ishiguro’s novel is much more secretive than the film. That being said, the world of Never Let Me Go is a silently brutal and aching beautiful one. Director Mark Romanek has stunning breathed a very realistic world. While the connotations around it bubble with this moralistic rage, what is right and what is wrong, Never Let Me Go ultimately centres on a love triangle that is pulled in each direction by each characters doomed future.
Helpfully, the character are each portrayed by formidable actors who carry weight and sensitivity. Mulligan is a steady actress who doesn’t need much to translate a secret distress that eats away, while at the same coming to terms with the facts and keeping everything together. Andrew Garfield is great, delivering one of the most impressive scenes her. And Kiera Knightly effectively brings a testy and manipulative Ruth to life, all the while allowing her to grow and seek reconciliation. Each thespian here has an understandable level of pain that translates breathlessly off the screen.
Never Let Me Go is a combination of expertise. While I can never sit here and tell you that it captures Ishiguro’s spirit, I can say that the spirit it does have is effortless, tragic and stunning. Some may not appreciate the still pace, like a morning on the beach at the first hint of sunrise, but others will understand the need for this discreet temper that comes out in words, spat and hissed. It will, indeed, sink underneath your skin and trouble you.
Never, letting, go.
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