Monday, February 7, 2011

Book to Movie Review: Never Let Me Go

One of my favorite 2010 reads was Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (click here for the review). It is a strange, wonderful story of a world which does not care for its inhabitants and how the power or love and friendship may or may not win in the end.

The movie adaptation of the novel stars three of the most perspective young actors - Carey Mulligan (Oscar-nominated for An Education), Keira Knightley (Oscar-nominated for Pride & Prejudice) and Andrew Garfield. They play Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, respectively. The three have grown up in a boarding school named Hailsham and, having recently graduated, are thrown in the outside world to fend for themselves. I do not want to give too much away - but Hailsham, as well as the world in the story, may not be at all as it seems and once the three reach this conclusion, they only have each other for support.

Much of my excitement prior to seeing this movie was the cast - namely, Keira Knightley. One of my favorite actresses, she is given the most colorful role in the movie. A part of a love triangle, she embodies the conflicting feelings of competitiveness and vulnerability perfectly, and particularly shines in a scene where she is finally confronted with the reality of her situation. Mulligan and Garfield are just as competent and have remarkable chemistry, which helps the movie immensely. Throw in competent direction and beautiful cinematography and you cannot go wrong with this one.

It is difficult to write about Never Let Me Go without giving anything away. Yet, I cannot recommend this movie enough. My DVD copy will surely be played a great number of times as this wonderful, warm story is slowly becoming one of my all-time favorites. Ishiguro should be really proud.

RATING: 5/5


BEWARE: The trailer contains spoilers!



6 comments:

Amanda said...

For the most part I really enjoyed this one too, though I admit that Tommy's "fits" felt over-acted and not quite realistic. That was my only qualm though. The rest was great!

Orhedea said...

I wish i read your review before i saw the trailer. Now i'm pretty sure how iot's going to end and no amount of Kiera Knightley can convince me to sit through it without pressing the rewind and fast forward buttons (a bad habbit i cannot get rid of)

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the movie! The book is one of my absolute favourites and so I'm really looking forward to finally seeing the film (when I get around to it) I love Keira, Carey, and Andrew; they're all amazing actors. :)

Nikola said...

@Amanda Yeah, I know what you mean - although, as I've read the book, I understood them, in the movie they felt a bit... displaced.

@Orhedea Oh, but do watch it! It's such a beautifully shot, directed and acted out movie that it doesn't even matter if you know the ending or not... But maybe you might get surprised! :)

@Michelle I LOVED the book and I think the movie is just as good. Which is, I'm sure, you'll agree, rather rare. :D

Nina said...

Going to check the book out at goodreads and then hopefully the library has a copy of it. Sounds very good and i like that trailer a lot. :) Thanx for putting this book and movie under my attention.

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