Never Let Me Go
Possible Spoiler Alert!!!
Starring: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Charlotte Rampling, Nathalie Richard
Director: Mark Romanek
Rating: 4.5/5
It's been nearly twenty years since Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Remains of the Day was adapted for the big screen. But 2011 sees Never Let Me Go, arguably his most popular novel, get the big screen treatment.
Kathy (Mulligan), Tommy (Garfield) and Ruth (Knightley) live in a world and a time that feel familiar to us, but are not quite like anything we know.
They spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school.
When they leave the shelter of the school and the terrible truth of their fate is revealed to them, they must also confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart.
I'm at a real loss as to why this movie has not made any of the awards list in recent weeks as Mark Romanek has produced a very beautiful and powerful movie that stays with you long after the credits roll.
Set in almost an alternate reality of England during the fifties medical technology has found a way to banish sickness and prolong human life - but it comes with a sacrifice.
Only a viewer with a heart of stone with be unmoved by this sad tale as Romanek has brought a far more emotional movie to the big screen than Michael Bay did with The Island - which basically tackles the same subject.
At it's core Never Let Me Go is a tale of morality and a question of what is right and wrong. Do Ruth, Tommy and Kathy have the right to decide on their own future? Should they just accept their fate? And is this type of medicine ever acceptable?
This movie is a very thought provoking picture that leaves you with a few questions of your own.
While the script is powerful and moving and the cinematography very beautiful - the washed up boat on the beach being a particularly haunting moment - the movie hinges on the three central performances.
Knightley, Mulligan and Garfield are superb as Ruth, Kathy and Tommy as they try to make the best of their short lives and come to terms with what the future holds for them.
Knightley is cold and calculated as she muscles in on Kathy and Tommy's blossoming childhood romance to steal Tommy for herself.
However Knightley plays Ruth in a way that doesn't make her unlikable - in fact you feel nothing but sympathy towards this character as she struggle to deal with her fate.
Garfield is awkward and self conscious but his chemistry with Mulligan is gripping, particularly as the movie progresses.
But it's Mulligan who really excels as the more mature Kathy - who always find herself playing second fiddle to Ruth.
Mulligan's final scenes and her controlled emotion is just heart wrenching once again demonstrating what a fine acting talent that she is.
Never Let Me Go is a very powerful movie that can not help but move you to your very core as three young people hurtle towards their destiny and seem powerless to do anything about it.
Never Let Me Go is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw