Never Let Me Go (2010)

I agree with the comment Music video director Mark Romanek has had a somewhat easy transition into the way of feature filmmaking (he made his debut in 2002 with the creepy Robin Williams thriller "One Hour Photo"), and "Never Let Me Go" is easily the director's best work. But I do not think the book is about a love story at all. As usual in my experience the book is a lot richer than the movie. It gradually leads the reader to the ending. I am not an UK resident. But even I, envisioned a lot better places that movie could take space in coastal Britain. The movie was disappointing in that way.

This movie is beautiful, powerful, and leaves you feeling empty and full at the same time. It is slow like other have said, but that's because of the focus it puts into its character development and atmosphere it creatures for the movie to stand on in the end. If you have the time and don't need lots of flair and explosions to enjoy your movie, watch it. But don't just watch it, pay attention, let it speak to you and then you won't feel it was a waste of time.

It's "The Island" for girls. A disturbing, thought-provoking and brilliant film, exploring the meaning of life. Without explosions.

This film has a really expensive cast, which does the original story justice, which was written by the Literature Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro. Although Ishiguro moved to England in an early age, his story is heavily Japanese-flavored. Humanity, isolation, despair, love, those are very common themes in Japanese literature. Therefore I feel like a large portion of plot would be better suited for Japanese actors and actresses. It might not be that comprehensible in this side of the cultural gap. Even jarringly inconsistent. For example, the Japanese obsession with vagueness is unique to Japanese culture, and not translatable by language. It is very understandable for Japanese characters to not say something important, even those that must be spoken, in fear of spoiling the present that they so enjoy. Tommy wouldn't tell Ruth that he liked Kathy more because he was unsure of Kathy's feelings. He would be afraid that he would cause Kathy troubles if he rejected Ruth, since romantic rejection for her sake would clearly ruin Kathy and Ruth's friendship. But since Kathy already saw Ruth and Tommy kissing, she wouldn't tell Tommy she liked him in fear of hurting Ruth. Ruth, of course, cared deeply about both her friends, therefore the fragile balance could sustain. But none of those misunderstandings and subtle, beautiful web of love and friendship would be possible in the brutally transparent language that was used in the film. I think the difference might be that it is impossible to tell what an Asian person is feeling by looking at him/her/them, but it is for Westerners, therefore it would all be quicker and easier. Carey Mulligan, being a fan of the book, did a very precise and relatable interpretation of the book. Her performance would satisfy the fan. But Andrew Garfield made Tommy look like a total loser. He said in one of the interviews that Tommy was anxious, so he was trying to spice anxiety into his performance. It doesn't take an expert to tell that he was wrong. Tommy wasn't anxious at all. In fact, he was meticulous, caring, sensitive, endearing. He was powerless yet heartbreakingly firm about defending his love and friends and humanity. He wasn't supposed to make any audience resent or despise Tommy. If he had actually read the book, the movie would be entirely different. But I love his scream at the end. It was very heart-felt and soul-crunching. I was very inspired and shaken by that scream. At least he got that right.Keira Knightly went amiss too. Her Ruth was mean, manipulative, domineering. But a Japanese Ruth would be more considerate, more gentle, more smooth. She would not so openly, easily declare her affections, but would wait until it bursted her and tortured her more than she could bear that she spitted it out. She was supposed to feel like a friend worth having, but did the worst thing for caring. Keira Knightly said in an interview that she didn't understand Ruth's motives. Audience can sense that by watching, and those misunderstandings kind of tore the story apart.I am grateful that someone bothers to make the novel into a movie at all. To convey the cultural and emotional contexts of the novel, they were obviously trying very hard, but to a mediocre success. I can't say Japanese actors would do it any better, since some of them regard acting with a bizarre kind of sportsmanship instead of craftsmanship, pushing themselves into emotional and physical limits instead of thinking with clear heads what the characters were really supposed to do. So I guess it is as good as it can get.