Never Let Me Go (Blu-ray)
Directed by Mark Romanek
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 2010
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 104 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish, French, Portuguese
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, others
Region: A-B
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Review Date: February 2, 2011
The Film
3/5
If the one hour version of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone were still being produced on television, Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go might have made a pleasing episode. Offbeat with its über-muted feelings and a story which skitters along the edges of sci-fi/fantasy, Never Let Me Go is a bit too subdued to achieve its maximum impact in a feature film though the production, cast, and story are not at fault. Its memorable qualities seem too small and intimate for the widescreen vistas we are presented with here. There are powerful moments, but its quiet reserve and hushed tone for most of its length limit its effectiveness unless one has real patience and can rejoice in its mostly minor pleasures.
(spoilers ahead)
Growing up together at the Hailsham School, Kathy (Isobel Meikle-Small; Carey Mulligan as an adult), Tommy (Charlie Rowe; Andrew Garfield as an adult), and Ruth (Ella Purnell; Keira Knightley as an adult) are an odd triumverate. Tommy is painfully shy and the continual butt of pranks while the big-hearted Kathy finds herself seeking his company and falling for him. As they grow up, Tommy pairs off with Ruth, much to Kathy’s silent dismay. Once they reach eighteen, they leave the school for the Cottages where the young people must decide whether to become donors or carers. It is then that we learn that the children are actually clones and as donors will have their organs harvested until they die from one of the procedures. Carers act as care-givers to their donor-patients until they expire. The children are split up once they become adults, but since Kathy has become a carer, she eventually crosses paths with both Tommy and Ruth, both individually donors after they’ve each survived two organ harvests. Her feelings for Tommy are as powerful as ever, and his are returned in kind making them wonder if the rumors that donors who fall in love are granted reprieve from further harvesting might be true. They set out to find the truth.
It’s about twenty minutes into the movie before we’re finally faced with the horrifying truth of the predicament of these curiously obedient, well mannered youngsters, and from then on, a sense of impending doom inflicts itself upon the film which no amount of location work or impressive performances can negate. The feeling of melancholy surrounding the entire picture is so palpable that it’s almost oppressive. Credit has to be given to director Mark Romanek (whose previous film One Hour Photo had a similar doleful air about it), screenwriter Alex Garland basing his script on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, and cinematographer Adam Kimmel whose subdued palate of color and veiled lighting keeps things continually muffled, and that includes the controlled hormones of the three leads and the rather bleak world they aren’t really being allowed to enjoy. One stark shot of a dilapidated boat beached on the shore is a metaphor for the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters: something potentially joyous rendered useless and decrepit, and for the film, too.
Care was taken to match the youthful actors with their adult counterparts (Isobel Meikle-Small and Carey Mulligan are an especially convincing match), and all give thoughtful, tender performances. Mulligan gets the most opportunities to display an introspective, mostly silent nature through her expressive eyes and face while Andrew Garfield has a couple of cathartic moments during the film which make his character the movie’s ultimate tragedy. As the stern headmistress at Hailsham, Charlotte Rampling makes a decisive impression, gently modifying her stoic mask as the film reaches its inevitable climax.
Video Quality
4/5
The film has been framed at 2.35:1 and is presented in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Because of its muted tone, colors have been desaturated slightly and contrast lowered a bit. It doesn’t decrease sharpness, of course, but everything and everyone is pale in this likely accurate reflection of its theatrical look. Black levels seem muted as well giving the picture even less visual pop. The film has been divided into 28 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix has a subtle sense of surround with Rachel Portman’s delicate score and some occasional ambient sounds (children during an assembly, cars on the street, the distant ocean) spreading through the fronts and drifting into the rear channels. Dialogue is less important in this film than in some others, but what has been recorded has been recorded well and has been placed effectively in the center channel.
Special Features
2.5/5
“Secrets of Never Let Me Go” is a reasonably thorough making-of documentary featuring the three stars of the film along with its director and producers Andrew MacDonald and Allon Reich, screenwriter Alex Garland, and original novelist Kazuo Ishiguro all discussing the meaning of the work and their efforts to bring it to the screen. It’s presented in 1080i and runs 30 ¼ minutes.
A montage of Mark Romanek’s on-set black and white photographs is set to the film’s score and runs 3 ¼ minutes. They’re in 1080p.
“Tommy’s Art” is a montage of the pictures and notebooks drawn and painted for the character portrayed by Andrew Garfield in the movie. It runs 2 ½ minutes in 1080p.
A montage of graphic posters and literature constructed for the fictional National Donor Programme and Halisham Campaign are presented in a 2-minute sequence in 1080p.
The movie’s theatrical trailer runs 2 ½ minutes in 1080p. However, it gives away all of the film’s revelations and climactic surprises so should be avoided before watching the movie. It is in 1080p.
The disc also contains 1080p promotional trailers for Conviction, Black Swan, 127 Hours, and Cyrus.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
Thought-provoking to be sure even if its ultimate effect is rather small and obvious, Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go comes to Blu-ray with its melancholy tone and sad story intact and an excellent if muted picture and subtle sound.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
