The movie adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's breathtaking novel Never Let Me Go will be playing this weekend at the Newcomb Hall Theater. In between beautifully crafted shots that alternate between idyllic British pastures and hauntingly faded hospital corridors, director Mark Romanek - best known for his work with music videos, not the big screen - explores the limits of what it means to be human.
Much of Ishiguro's book is committed to the slow reveal of the devastating truth about our three main characters: Kathy, Tommy and Ruth. The film adaptation, however, is not. Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later) decides against the shocking reveals that often characterize science fiction. We don't find out in a shocking moment that the Matrix is not real life or that Soylent Green is people. This is a science fiction movie that is less concerned with the alternative world it creates and more captivated by the swiftly changing dynamics between people.
In fact, at heart, the movie Never Let Me Go is a romance, sweetly and quietly rendered. Kathy - played with delicate grace by Carey Mulligan - is a shy outsider, a girl who spends time "not looking forward but looking back." When she's not reminiscing about her childhood, which she spent at a grave boarding school called Hailsham, she's pining over Tommy (Andrew Garfield), who is dating her best friend Ruth (Keira Knightley).
The film moves slowly at times and grimly always. The score, composed by Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman, provides an ethereal supplement that perfectly complements the contrasts between the light pastel color scheme that dominates Kathy's memories and the stark primary colors that govern her present. There are scenes of children playing ball games; Kathy lounging on her bed, listening to music; Tommy wandering across a rain-drenched pasture. With this in the hands of less capable actors, I would have been bored to death. But Mulligan, Garfield and Knightley bring to life what could have been a zombie of a film.
I was captivated by Garfield's portrayal of Tommy, the awkward, ungainly boy prone to quick explosions of anger. Knightley likewise embodies the beautiful but manipulative Ruth, creating a character that was alternatively despicable and utterly relatable. But the real star is Mulligan, who is the glue that holds the movie together. Her voice narrates us, gently guiding us through her past and future. As the rosy, bright-eyed dreamer, she perfectly calibrates between despair and hope, futility and optimism.
Never Let Me Go has been more or less overlooked in the United States - it didn't even receive a wide distribution. Its strong presence at the British Independent Film Awards and Independent Spirit Awards, however, attests to its quality. Like the book that inspired it, the film ultimately cannot answer all the questions it proposes. But by simply proposing them, it lingers in the back of my mind as an unanswered question concerning redemption, love and human nature.
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