Wednesday
Apr132011
First and Last, Melancholia
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 10:02AM 
tagged first and last
first and last Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 10:02AM
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Reader Comments (24)
never let me go! such a beautiful, fragile film.
Yup, Never Let Me Go. I'd know those poor sad twists of trapped fabric blowing in the breeze anywhere.
Yes! Never Let Me go!!
Never Let Me Go. I thought Andrew Garfield nailed that part, but Keira Knightely was miscast. But, oh what an amazing book.
Never Let Me Go!
Yay! More Andrew Garfield infatuation. I heart him dearly.
Never Let Me Go-- yay. Just to reiterate to fans of the film: If you liked the film, READ THE BOOK. It's astounding and, though simply written, it packs as much philosophical punch on the essence of humanity and love and parenting and death as a Ancient Greek essay.
That has to be Never Let Me Go. That was such a great movie :) Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield should have gotten Oscar nominations.
Never Let Me Go! I just rewatched this over the weekend, it's such a gorgeous film. I think Carey, Andrew and Keira were all fantastic, but those kids were outstanding as well. The beginning of the film is my favorite part, there's such a sense of eeriness and melancholy in the scenes at the school. Just beautiful.
Thanks, Nathaniel. Finally one that I can guess right just by looking at Carey’s hair.
ahh so late to the party...
but i got this one too.
if only the film was as good as its cinematography.
got late on this one, it's never let me go. never understood why it got such a negative response amongst critics, maybe you can explain Nathaniel?
I rarely ever know these, and then when, somehow, I do, I'm too late :(
Dan, why do you think Keira was miscast? She probably had the least to work with of the main trio, but her performance in the last third of the movie especially was really good. I thought she put a lot of psychological depth into a character who could have easily come off as one dimensional. I don't think another actress could have done more with the role.
Danielle, I completely agree with you. I think Keira's scene in the hospital hallway with Carey is some of the finest work of her career. The film as a whole is excellent but could have used maybe 10-15 minutes more in running time (particularly at the cottages) to enrich the characters a little. But still, it is mystifying to me this made barely $2 million and got the cold shoulder from critics as well. It deserved much more.
Agree with most of you...such a heartbreaking and haunting movie...I couldn't get it out of my head after watching it... I never really understood the mixed reception either... Great performances (and even if Carey and Garfield are obviously the main characters, I thought Keira played the bitter, selfish and finally regreful Ruth brilliantly), great production values and a deep and provoking subject...Oh well, we all know Oscars don't always award or even nominate the best (ejem, Chris Nolan, ejem).
The score of Rachel Portman breakes my heart!
Jay, that hallway scene is brilliant - like you said, it's some of the most persuasive acting of her career. All the bitterness, all the regret, and all the heartache are seeping out of her as she walks closer and closer toward the camera. It's a great moment for her.
NEVER LET ME GO:i liked the movie , Garfield's acting and Knightley's character but i disliked Mulligan's acting and character(too passive, too whining,too "pain of the world on her face")
and Knightley needs to feed again(her anorexic face& body are painful to look)
Just saw that movie (here in Germany; it just opened here). Thought it was really really great, depressing, poetic, thought-provocing (just one complaint: it could have been 20 min. longer, thus developing the characters and their relationship even more)... I'm surprised it was completely overlooked everywhere...
And Mulligan and especially Andrew Garfield were very impressive!
I read the book and watched the film, and liked them both fine, but loved neither. I do agree the three leads were great in it and I'm also confused about the reception it got. I didn't expect it to be a hit, but I thought it would do better with critics, awards and audiences.
Aah, Never Let Me Go. One of my biggest disappointments last year.
Knightley and especially Garfield were great but Mulligan did NOTHING for me. And her terrible hair piece was such a distraction. God knows I love Mark Romanek but I feel like he was trying way too hard here. Too overworked, too overwrought and that score was a nightmare. A story like that doesn't need to tell me when I should be feeling something, that was the brilliance of the novel. The film should've been less is more all the way, it was such a mistake to amp it up the way they did.
It's hard to know how much of my dislike of Knightley as Ruth came from my own interpretation of the book, especially with months of distance from having seen it. I think my main problem was that she grated me in a way that wasn't consistent with the way the character did. Maybe she oddly projected too much confidence for a character who projects confidence without actually having it? I will say that I definitely liked her more late in the film but by then she'd lost my confidence.
I also really disliked the song they used.
But another call for reading the book.
Ever let you go. But you always come back, come back to me... What a beautiful book, what a beautiful movie, what a sad life... In my own Oscars Awards, "Never let me go" got at least 7 nominations.
Never Let Me Go in a heartbeat...why do I know these films suddenly??