The story begins with Kathy (Carey Mulligan) watching Tommy (Andrew Garfield) on an operating table. Soon he will “complete”. Kathy H is the narrator of Never Let Me Go. She takes us back to her childhood in Hailsham, an upper class boarding school where everything seems quite normal until a few clues are thrown in, to make us realise that this isn’t a school like any other.The children live in complete isolation under the tight control of “Madame” and of several “guardians”. In some ways they just seem like a group of normal kids, bullying one another or being a little unruly like any regular child would be.
But the ambience is bizarre. Prominence is given to poetry and art; but most of all to the student’s health. They are dosed with vitamins, milk and are very carefully scrutinised by a doctor.
One day the van drivers who do the usual deliveries to the school bring a truck load of boxes filled with old toys and other used items. The children who utilise plastic coins as fake money seem a little too overjoyed at the sight of decapitated dolls and broken objects. Kathy does not find anything she likes but Tommy buys her a cassette tape called Songs After Dark by fictional singer Judy Bridgewater. The third character in the story is Ruth (Keira Knightly) a beautiful and jealous girl who watches with envy, a strong bond build between Kathy and Tommy. From that time onwards, she makes it her mission to win him over and she does. Kathy passively allows the boy she loves to turn away from her and for several years none of them will act upon their emotions.
When they turn 11 years, one of their guardians tells them about their origins. They have been created to be donors, they will donate their organs and submit to an inevitable death also called a “completion” after about their third donation. Some will live a little longer by being ‘carers’ and looking after those who donate.
The film which is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro is divided into several sections: Childhood in the boarding school, adulthood where the clones are moved into residential “cottages” and are given the opportunity to mingle with the outside world and a third section where Ruth and Tommy become donors and Kathy a carer.
The theme of cloning has been used and re-used many times in science fiction ‘features,’ however Never Let Me Go does not really fit into that category. Nothing is loud or violent and there will be no Bruce Willis popping out of a bush and saving our three heroes from a pre-destined faith.
Strangely it never occurs to Kathy, Ruth and Tommy to even try to escape as there seems to be a bizarre acceptance on their part that their lives will be short because they were created to serve a purpose which isn’t to fulfill their dreams or build a future for themselves. Also having known nothing other than the safety of each other’s company and the regimented surroundings of boarding schools and cottages, their urge to go elsewhere seems non existent.
That perhaps is the most heart wrenching point of the story, our protagonists’ passive acceptance of their faith and premature death. One wants to shake them and force them to scream that they have souls, feelings and emotions but there is a sad and at the same time peaceful air of resignation in most of them.
They are part of a society which believes that people like Ruth, Kathy and Tommy have been created to be disposed off and are not entitled to fall in love and grow old. One terribly disturbing fact is that the England depicted is picture perfect; the people are polite and in control and having clones give up their lives to save severely ill patients is just an accepted fact of life.
Despite being shocking and heartbreaking, Never Let Me Go does not reach the same levels as Ishiguro’s brilliant novel. However the film successfully questions the themes of life and death and making the most of the limited amount of time we are given on this Earth. Does this symbolise the end of humanity? Possibly yes, as that begins when human lives (the clones have blood running through their veins and have feelings and emotions) become disposable items. When Ruth “completes” after her third donation and her heart is taken out of her chest, is one of the most poignant moments of the film and the hardest to watch. Let us never reach those levels.
The Sunday Leader - By Sumaya Samarasinghe
