Never Let Me Go (***3/4)

It is 1978. Life expectancy in England had exceeded 100 years in the previous decade, and this had changed things, although, for three young people at an isolated boarding school, there was little sign of that. (Think of Hogwarts without the eccentric professors, or the magic, or Harry Potter.) The first third of the drama (adapted from the Kazuo Ishiguro novel) takes place at the school. Director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) and screenwriter Alex Garland carefully telescope years of experience into brief scenes. A girl’s friendship with an outcast boy. The jealousy of her friend. Nothing confusing, but something mysterious there. Children who are afraid to leave the school grounds for fear of disappearing. This beginning is suggestive of a certain type of psychological horror film, and indeed this can be regarded as such, although it is not at all “scary” in that sense. Talk of “donors” and “carers” in Carey Mulligan’s introductory voiceover is another hint that something is amiss. (We learn what fairly early on, but it’s better not to know.)

The rest of the film takes place later, when the three children have become young adults, played by Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. By then we already know, mostly, the paths their lives will take. Although the plot is nothing like that of Remains of the Day, the Ishiguro novel previously adapted into a film, the same feeling sticks with me. Both stories are of people whose lives are circumscribed by both their own natures and the roles in society. They are stories of longing, and lost years, and sadness. In each case, they are told with a kind of economy of expression. I felt I knew these characters, even though the film is brief and skips forward in time.

I’ve deliberately downplayed the science-fiction aspect of the story, because that is not the kind of movie it is. As Romanek admitted in a recent interview, those looking for a conventional sci-fi film will be disappointed. There is no explanation of why things are as they are; there is no suggestion that the characters will rebel, or that doing so would be effective. I would enjoy seeing a more sci-fi/action take on the same story. (Screenwriter Garland has, in fact, written movies like that—Sunshine and 28 Days Later, both directed by Danny Boyle.) But the absence of these aspects didn’t annoy me, because it seemed like they were beside the point. The point is not how the world got to be that way, but to observe the behaviors of these characters in their situation. Though its spareness (not slowness) may not suit all tastes, Never Let Me Go is like a sad song so beautiful you that you still want to hear it.

IMDB link

viewed 9/20/10 at Ritz East [PFS screening]