Please Let Me Go?

FILM REVIEW: NEVER LET ME GO

Organ-donor clones raised at an idyllic country boarding school which instils from an early age disturbing undertones of their final life purpose.

Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro this is an emotional story which tries very hard to both controversial and “intellectual”. And so of course it is loved by critics and the middle class culture set the world over.

That is not to imply that I did not enjoy the experience, though. The film was powerful in its own way, with the complicated relationships between the three donors maintaining a strong human interest throughout. And it cannot be denied that the film succeeded in its appeal to our sense of morality. I am sure that virtually every viewer left convinced of the barbarism of Ishiguro’s imaginary forced organ donation. But for me there was something missing. Yes Ishiguro had managed to conjure a fascinating yet disturbing world, but for what purpose? To test our sense of right?

I could not help but reflect on the “forced” organ donation which actually occurs in our world. In third world nations, such as India, extreme poverty often forces people to donate, for example, a kidney to a donor in the West, or in some cases wives or children are coerced into making donations in support of their families. Perhaps this was what Ishiguro hoped to prompt us to think about.

In all, “Never Let Me Go”, is a pretty solid human-interest/thought-provoking kind of film. The kind of cinema you would take your other half or good friend to in search of your “intellectual/cultural activity” for the week. It is worth seeing, as long as you have the mental head space to try to figure out “what was that all about?”