Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go is another novel by Kazuo Ishiguro which has turned into a film (see Remains of the Day with Emma Thompson). The production reflects the story, the sobriety with which Mark Romanek has directed this story only reinforces the beauty of it. This modest British production proves to be of quality, so much so that the cast is perfect – as well as their interpretations – and I am not afraid of these strong words when dealing with this film. I did not imagined it would give me such emotions in the end. Even outside the cinema I was not able to collect my wits.

This is the story of three young persons. Kathy, Ruth and Tommy (Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield) who live in a traditional British boarding school inside which they have to follow strict healthy rules, for their own good. One teacher only (Sally Hawkins) dares to explain them the true purpose of their existence, of their doings in Hailsham. In other words, they became aware of their short and doomed destiny. Three stages follow one another: young adolescence, young adulthood and confirmed adulthood where real order is restored. The lives of these three persons are, as Kathy says,“interwoven,” motivated by love and friendship. Despite these links, years have passed without their seeing each other, and yet ten years later Destiny has chosen to unite them again.

Not only destiny and free will are challenged here, but the nature of things, the ability to define oneself. Who are they? What are they exactly? Nobody could really explain it to them, nobody wanted to in fact. Kathy is the one who understands her feelings, who knows how to face life. She is the one whom we follow the tracks, sharing every one of her feelings. To me Ruth and Tommy desperately want to find a meaning to their lives without the capacity of truly reaching it. Or perhaps too late, though. The latter two have been mislead, to the great displeasure of Kathy. Revelations came too late in their existence, which only increase the cruel fate they have to confront themselves with. Ruth, a complex character, nevertheless undertakes a kind of redemption for what she has done, offering at the same time a thwarted second chance for Kathy and Tommy to live their love.

You can find on IMDB this beautiful line from Kathy:

I come here and imagine that this is the spot where everything I've lost since my childhood is washed out. I tell myself, if that were true, and I waited long enough then a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy. He'd wave. And maybe call. I don't know if the fantasy go beyond that, I can't let it. I remind myself I was lucky to have had any time with him at all. What I'm not sure about, is if our lives have been so different from the lives of the people we save. We all complete. Maybe none of us really understand what we've lived through, or feel we've had enough time.