Three reviews for Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go have showed up online, so I thought I’d pull them all together and package them into a post for you. The film has been chosen to open the 2010 London Film Festival and the recently released trailer is a thing of beauty.
Never Let Me Go is an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed novel and centers on three children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy, who spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them.
Never Let Me Go features a brilliant host of talented actors and actresses, including Keira Knightely, Carey Mulligan, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, Andrew Garfield, Andrea Riseborough and Nathalie Parsons.
Below are a few of the early reviews that have been found online.
Warning: The reviews below are mostly spoiler-free, but if you wish to enjoy the film without any pre-conceived ideas, then I suggest you look away now.
Never Let Me Go is a perfect example of British film at its very best; it’s a sombre piece of work, yet its sheer quality will lift the gloomiest of spirits. … The film, adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name, stars three of our brightest young actors – Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley. All of them are still only in their mid-20s, yet they have a global reputation that is richly deserved. And all of them are outstanding in never Let Me Go. As such, this beautiful looking film is a perfect opener for the LFF, as the festival’s artistic director Sandra Hebron observed yesterday. Describing it as “accomplished and imaginative,” she added: “It combines impeccable film making, outstanding performances and a deeply moving story, and I couldn’t wish for a stronger or more appropriate opening night.”
“In certain directorial and thespian hands, Ishiguro’s work could have been turned into mawkish slop. But, with these actors, the film’s a thing of rare beauty. … Never Let Me Go is the most haunting film about love and death I’ve ever seen.”
The Observer:
“For anyone who has read the 2005 Kazuo Ishiguro novel Never Let Me Go, the idea of a film adaptation seems far-fetched as best. But director Mark Romanek and screenwriter Alex Garland have managed to do it; Never Let Me Go (in select theaters 9/15) perfectly captures the novel’s beauty and haunting poignancy. … Try, if you can, to stay as spoiler-free before viewing.”
Never Let Me Go will screen at the London Film Festival in October, before opening in UK cinemas on January 24, 2011.
