Monday, October 18, 2010
Never let me go
This is the most moving film I've seen in some time, because of a combination of a compelling story; wonderful performances; and great cinematography, directing and musical score. I hardly know how to write about it in a way that will get across just how powerful I found it to be in every aspect. It's based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, best known for another wonderful film The Remains of the Day. It takes place in England and could be called science fiction as it's about a society that's different from our own in that clones are created for the sole purpose of donating their organs as young adults so that other older people can live longer. This sounds quite freaky but in fact what makes the story so effective is that in most ways the people and society seem so normal. The story begins, looks and unfolds like any number of films taking place in the lovely English countryside with cute children being brought up in strict but expected residential schools, except for a few unusual details. All three of the main actors -- Carrie Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield -- are excellent, though I'm especially partial to Carrie Mulligan from last year's An Education. The director, Mark Romanek, amazingly has mainly directed various video documentaries in the past. The only previous film of the cinematographer, Adam Kimmel, that I'm familiar with is Capote. The wonderfully poignant and evocative music was written by Rachel Portman, whose name wasn't familiar to me but she's done the music for many other excellent films. So what can I say to give some idea of why you should not miss this film? It's true, poignant and thought-provoking even though it's about a fictional society, but how different actually are the lives, hopes and dreams of these young people/clones from those of all of us, who know we're going to die too soon no matter how long we live?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment