这个是最早的影评
Published on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 11:55amCinebloke Gets An Early Look At Mark Romanek's NEVER LET ME GO!!
Merrickhere...Cinebloke sent in this look from a very early screening of NEVER LET ME GO.This one's from director Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO) and based on a book by Kazuo Ishiguro (availableHERE). The script's by Alex Garland (SUNSHINE, 28 DAYS LATER, the Neill Blomkamp HALO movie that never got made).
To the best of my knowledge, no final release date has been set for this film - so be aware than many changes could be made to the movie between the version seen by Cinebloke and the final release version.
BEWARE MAJOR SPOILERS!Here's Cinebloke:Sherman Oaks, CA.Arclight.Test Screening of Mark Romanek's new film, the screen adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel"Never Let Me Go."
As someone who has always enjoyed Romanek's work I was very much looking forward to his latest film, not to mention it's been seven years since"One Hour Photo."The film was also adapted for the screen by Alex Garland (a fine novelist in his own right) and produced by Andrew Macdonald (DNA Films).
Going in, I only knew that the novel dealt with clones.For some reason clones and Romanek's vision conjured up some whacked version of"I-Robot"(maybe it's from seeing Romanek's Michael Jackson"Scream"video as of late). Fortunately"Never Let Me Go"is more in the vein of Alfonso Cuaron's"Children of Men"meets a Merchant/Ivory film with romantic hints of Ridley Scott's"Blade Runner."
Garland has adapted Ishiguro's story into a very fine dramatic, disturbing, sci-fi, tragic-love story while Romanek's direction cements those elements with a very mature eye.I wasn't sure what I thought about this film while I was watching it.Didn't exactly love it and sure as hell didn't hate it.However, now that I've had some time to have it simmer around in my head for a bit, my feeling for"Never Let Me Go"leans heavily to very enthusiastic.It's nice to see a filmmaker mature in front of your very eyes and Romanek, as well as Garland, has certainly made gains (like any good, growing artist does).The story? It's a bit difficult to explain but I've cobbled this together to help make it clear:The first half of the film is set at Hailsham, a boarding school where the children are brought up and educated. The teachers there mysteriously encourage the students to produce various forms of art. The best works are chosen by the headmistress (the great Charlotte Rampling) and are said to be collected in a gallery.In this scene, the non-reaction of the children is eerie and the scene's nicely punctuated with a piece of paper being blown off the teachers desk and Tommy picking it up as if it's nothing or second-nature, the same reaction he has to learning his abrupt fate.
As time passes and the children grow, a relationship between Kathy and Tommy begins to develop. In one of the best scenes of the film Tommy buys a cassette at a type of school swap meet and gives it to Kathy. In the next scene we see Kathy listening to the song"Never Let Me Go"on the tape. It's a nice marriage of song, visual, and acting by the young Izzy Meikle-Small , as we see love taking flight. Yet, jealousy overcomes the pretty Ruth and she sways Tommy from Kathy.All the performances (from the young actors to the older actors) in the film are well rounded and Carey Mulligan as Kathy has a face that you can sink into and when the tragic love story comes to a head, you feel each and every tear that Kathy sheds.She deservedly earns the attention that is currently surrounding her career.Keira Knightley does a fine job as Ruth in a supporting part that gives her moments to flex her acting chops while integrating her beauty into the role.On first viewing the film, I wasn't sure about the tone and pace but upon thinking about it more and seeing how the film plays out, the slow intentions seem to pay off and will seemingly work even better on a second viewing -- which I think the whole film will also play better during.
Also of note, it was announced the music was a temp score, but I wouldn't mind if they kept some essence of it as it seem to fit fine.It will be interesting to see how an audience will react to this film.To be honest, I haven't felt like I did walking out of the theater since seeing P.T. Anderson's"There Will Be Blood."
I can't help but think it will polarize audiences; there will be those who love it and those who will absolutely despise it.It's a film that doesn't spell everything out and asks the audience to listen and be patient for what ends up being a story that will make you question your own fate.
Hat's off to Romanek and company for making a subtle, disturbing, tragic, and beautiful film.(If you use this please refer to me as Cinebloke)
