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In an alternate past, between the '70s and the '90s, human cloning is possible.
The clones are literally "raised" from birth and, upon reaching adulthood, become "donors." Organ donors, to be precise. After two or three donations, generally, their life cycle ends, around the age of 28.
The story takes place in England, at a college, the prestigious "Halisham," where the clones are raised in a very "humane" manner. They are educated and even encouraged to create works of art, like a painting, for example.
It is in this context that we meet three clone-kids-inseparable friends: Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield), and Ruth (Keira Knightley).
It is through them, or rather from their point of view, that the story is presented.
Anyway, the film is more about organ donation than cloning. A current topic. Consider that every year there are 800,000 organ donors. Needless to say, the pool of donors comes from the planet's poorest countries: Central-South America, Africa, Asia. The beneficiaries, however, it is even more needless to underline, come from Western Europe and the United States.
So, while it might be described as a science fiction story, the connections to reality are so tangible that, while watching the film, there is no impression of seeing a science fiction film, indeed.
Furthermore, considering that the story is told solely from the point of view of the young clones, for whom it is impossible not to feel genuine empathy, we are faced with an intensely dramatic film. We, like them, know that the kids who will become adolescents are destined to die. The clones were created for this purpose, and they know it from birth. They live it all with a kind of resignation… but what happens if, for example, one truly falls in love?
Yes. The clones are in every respect human beings.
Based on a 2005 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It is the same author of "The Remains of the Day" (two old people who meet and fall in love later in life), a completely different novel, then, but which shares the little time available to love each other, to live together.
This spirit of resignation, this awareness of being in service to something, is typically oriental. The clone is a kind of samurai and will fulfill its task to the end, to the ultimate sacrifice, without rebellion.
Thus we follow the daily lives of the kids at the college. These "special" children who grow up together, who have no family, have no past. Battery chickens.
The children will become young adults, and love will give "meaning" to their lives…
The film is very beautiful, intense, delicate. Despite the highly dramatic premise, it never falls into sentimentality, never overemphasizes the spectacle of pain, does not exaggerate the agony; in this sense, it is very faithful to the book, and perhaps for this reason, it is even more heart-wrenching than a typical tearjerker film.
It is a film from 2010. The director is Mark Romanek (famous maker of music videos like 'Bedtime Stories' by Madonna or 'Scream' by Michael Jackson), the production design is by Mark Digby (The Millionaire). Ah, the headmistress of the college is Charlotte Rampling, an old hand of cinema, and in her cold eyes where one barely glimpses a glimmer of pain for the fate of her "students," all the meaning of the film is encapsulated.
Anyway, I repeat, a great, great film, absolutely not to be missed. I don’t even know if it was released in Italian cinemas.
Kiss me
Kiss me
Kiss me… and never let me go…
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By sfascia carrozze
What is observed within these brief (or perhaps infinite) hundred and twenty minutes is as much cruel as it is pitiless, despite the disconcerting peace and lightness that characterizes the protagonists' lives.
The ineffable intertwining of incomplete destinies is portrayed by a cast of young yet effective actors... for a stern metaphor on the role of individuals within modern society.
