Never let me go [videorecording] (R)

    Review by:  Chris

Title:  Never let me go

Starring:  Andrew Garfield, Charlotte Rampling, Keira Knightley, Sally Hawkins, Carey Mulligan

Collection:  Movies

Unlike most people, I always prefer to see the movie based on a book before I read the book.  If I read the book first, the movie will almost certainly be a disappointment because the screen writers, directors, and actors, regardless of their talent, will not create the same vision of the story that I did when reading the book.  It might be an excellent film, but I am sure to dislike it all the same.  However, if I see the movie with few preconceptions about the tale it will tell, I might like it.  Then, if I read the book, I will be delighted again to encounter the greater depth and nuance that inevitably make up the written work and allow it to surpass the movie version.  This approach gives me a greater chance to enjoy both experiences instead of just the reading.

This being the case, I am now extremely eager to read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro because I cannot imagine something that is better than the film based on his work.  There is little to say about the plot that isn’t provided by the summary on the cover of the DVD, but the painful beauty of the film is scarcely hinted at in the bare outline of the story’s action.  Each scene unfolds slowly and quietly with muted colors and brilliant framing, and Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, and Carey Mulligan give wonderfully heartfelt performances.  The movie ended leaving me wanting more, which I believe is the desired effect, so I sat through all of the DVD’s bonus features, including the “making-of” documentary that offers snippets of an interview with Ishiguro.  If you enjoy the film as much as I did, you’ll want to check that out as well.  Now I only have to figure out how I’ll work the book into my already overloaded to-be-read-immediately list.