Monday, September 3, 2012

Responding to the Film Adaptation of _Never Let Me Go_

You're working as a film critic and it's your job to write a review of the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go for a literary magazine dedicated to informing readers about the quality and effectiveness of novels adapted to the big screen. You have 250 words or less to convince your readers to seek out or to avoid the film based on its faithfulness to the spirit of the original. [Please post your response as a reply to this post and don't forget to include your name!]

13 comments:

  1. After viewing this film I was very disappointed at the amount of crucial plot events that were left out. For example, in the book Kathy is caught holding a baby doll and dancing to a tape she bought at a sale by Madame. Kathy recalls the incident years later and concludes that Madame must be sad for the young clones that can never have children of their own, which in the book we find out was not true. This however was completely left out of the movie. Also in the story, Ruth asks to go visit a boat in a swamp not a beach. The swamp is too deep and the clones cannot travel through it only adding to the depressing dry end of this novel. The book portrays Ruth as feebler in the end and more apologetic than the movie does. Also in the book Tommy didn't allow Kathy to be there when he died, she was just supposed to be notified.

    Overall the acting was mediocre. The movie was just as dry as the book giving no deeper meaning than what is said. If you have time to spare and read the book you may consider watching the movie in order to compare what's missing from each.

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  2. Loraine Parker
    - Instead of focusing on the implications of this, the novel focuses on a trio of friends Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy. The book is from Kathy's POV, and she has a very nostalgic, reflective voice during the book. The narrative spends time on their years at Hailsham Boarding School, the cottages after school, and their time as donors and carers. The book itself won a lot of awards and was received well. All in all, I loved this movie. I think the way they worked out the cinematography, acting, and everything else really had a way of settling in your bones and making you feel kind of hopeless. And yet, there was distinct moments of beauty in their lives. The sale at Hailsham, Kath and Tommy's love, Tommy's drawings, their hope at a deferral, the boat. I think those times made it so much harder in the end, and I think it's harder for a movie to do that than a book.

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  3. After watching the “never Let Me Go” movie I have to say it is a poor representation of the book. The movie left out and altered many of the details that the book covered. Such as where Kathy received the tape she loved listening to, also who caught her listening to it in her room at Hailsham while she rocked the pillow like a baby, and how she lost the tape before she left Hailsham. All of these details were altered along with many others from the book. In general I found it interesting to see the interpretation of the book in movie form. I found the movie very intriguing but also very sad and heartbreaking. I wanted Tommy and Kathy to get their happy ending, but I guess if they did it wouldn’t show the cruelty they put these clones through. In the movie they said they took their art work for the gallery not to see into their soul but to see if they had a soul. If you were to ask my opinion I believe they do have soul. Throughout the book and movie you see their emotions these clones cry, laugh, love and acquire friendships. They experienced emotions just like any human being would in their lifetime. I think it would be wrong to create clones for the purpose of donating organs if they had feelings just like we experience. I think this book and movie did a good job of showing the cruelty these clones would experience if they were created for this purpose. -kaitlin Heldenbrand

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  4. From reading the book and also watching the film I highly suggest doing both. Although they have the same plot, the viewer will see differences between the movie and the novel.

    I was a little iffy about watching the film due to some scenes from the novel but the film makers did an excellent job. The quality of the film was accurate to the book and allowed the viewer to put a face with the character. From what I pictured from the novel was very close to what I saw from the film. The characters did an excellent job of playing their roles for this story.

    The set up of this film did its job in the since of making the book come to life. Having the visual side from the book allowed the book to actually speak it's descriptions and colorful meanings from the novel.

    I highly suggest watching the film after reading the novel because the whole story will unfold in your laps afterwards. It is a great story that makes an excellent movie.

    Emily Vile

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  5. Cassidy Gatlin ---- ENG 105 Ms. Isom
    If you haven't read the novel I would not recommend the movie. Though the movie was able to exemplify all the main points from the novel, it left out many little details from the book which add to the significance and reasoning of the events. Details such as the cassette tape's significance and when Tommy "found" another one for Kathy when they were older after she had lost the original.
    The book was very intriguing and allowed you to get inside the head of the main character Kathy. Though many events seemed to drag on in the book, the excessive amount of description made sense once the author, Kazuo Ishiguro, tied it together. I would definitely recommend adding this to your reading list. It inspires thoughts of different societies.

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  6. The film, "Never Let Me Go" was a good representation of the novel. Although it is good to use your own imagination when reading, this movie helps put faces to names you read in the book. It also puts the audience in the same situations the characters were in throughout that book. I thoroughly suggest anyone watch this movie in addition to reading the novel. I always come into movies based on books with high expectations and I believe this director nailed it. A movie representation of a book will never be exactly the same as the book itself which is not expected. The director should use some imagination and in this case the director did a fantastic job.

    Kristin Henson
    Eng. 105
    Ms. Isom's class

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  7. Just like many other films I thought the film was a poor representation of the book. The actors in the movie where alright, I didn't think anyone did a stand out job of representing their character very well. Many important parts that were emphasized in the book weren't in the film such as where Kathy received the tape, also the movie trails off from the book when Ruth goes where Tommy died.
    There was some parts of the film I enjoyed, like being able to connect how I pictured Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth in my head to the actors in the movie and see how closely they where related. If you have read this novel I do suggest seeing the movie just to get a more clear visualization of parts that may of not been to clear to you while reading. I do not suggest however to have very high standards for this film.

    -Addison Barlow

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  8. The movie wasn't made to the best of abilities, the book was more in-depth than the movie. Of course there are always more details in the book than movie but in this movie not a loud of things stood out except for in the beginning when Kathy was introducing the life they had or experienced. The other parts of the movie weren't really emphasized or weren't really made a big deal. The movie was a great way to show the book though, you were able to really see the things they went through other than visualizing the reading. The movie had a great story but wasn't shown to the best of its ability.

    Jill Turner
    English 105
    Ms. Isom

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  9. I think that the movie was a very good adaptation of the book. I would suggest this to everyone who has read the book to put some image to the characters. There were several good things about the book that were left out that, I felt were crucial to the book as a whole. This is a very good adaptation even though things are left out. I suggest this book and movie.

    Mark Rhodes
    Ms. Isom
    Eng. 105

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  10. After watching the movie "Never Let Me Go" I thought that it was a great representation compared to the book. There were several things that were left out, but it was a very good movie. Somethings such as looking for the tape was completely left out. I understand that it is hard to exactly duplicate a book into a movie so I think that it is a good representation. I highly suggest this book

    Mark Rhodes
    ENG 105
    Ms. Isom

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  11. Riley Thomsen
    Dr. Nielsen
    Eng 105
    9/19/2012

    I read half of the book but I couldn’t get into it. The movie wasn’t any better. “Never Let Me Go” directed by Mark Romanek, based off the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro is a film about three students at mysterious boarding school, Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth. The movie was just so dry. It had almost no character development so I didn’t care about any of the characters. So when the characters finally have to accept their fate it doesn’t make me feel anything. I watched it with my friend and we were more concerned with who was hotter, Kathy or Ruth, then we were what happened to them. Another thing is that I couldn’t buy that fact that Kathy and Tommy were really in love. They may have had crushes on each other when they are little kids. But you don’t date someones best friend for ten year if you are really in love with them. If they were really in love then they would have done something about it instead of just letting Ruth get in the way for ten years. Also why did madame keep their drawings? I understand that they encouraged the kids to do art to prove they have souls, but why did madame collect them? I could also tell from the part of the book I read that they cut out large parts of the book. Even in the later part of the movie past where I read it still felt like something was missing. I don’t suggest watching it, there are so many other movies you could watch instead.

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  12. i liked the movie a lot more than i liked the book, but i really did not like the movie. The whole story is weird to me why the kids are being made as clones to help other people out. I thought it was weird that Tommy and Kathy really like each other but he was with Ruth. I thought from the beginning that Tommy and Kathy would be together. The end was just bad because everyone died.
    Coryn Kiley
    Ms. Isom

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  13. Tyler Hayden
    Dr. Adair
    ENG 105
    10/1/12
    I would not recommend (Never Let Me Go) to anyone who hasn't read the book. The movie had the same main ideas as the book, but the movie left out many small details. The book was more in-depth then the movie was, the movie highlighted on some of the main points, but didnt emphasize very well. The actors that played the characters in the movie, did a poor job of representing the characters and how they acted. The movie also was hard to follow as with the book the story line was easier to understand. The movie did show the 3 friends Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy growing up together. The movie did a poor job of giving a clear understanding as to why the children were at Hailsham, and what was going to happen when they left.

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