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T O P I C R E V I E W
BaftaBaby
Posted - 12/16/2010 : 22:38:20 Oh, this one's gonna divide people, and you can quote me on that! From the same pen that brought you repression personified in The Remains of the Day, comes another understated tale, this one set in the what-if parallel universe of our recent past.
Director Mark Romanek, who made his name with music vids, also gave us One Hour Photo, which is becoming one of my fave films of the decade.
I'm afraid this one ain't. It's no fault of Romanek who produces the kind of imagery that embues ordinary British suburban landscapes with a frosting of magic.
And the trio of Carey Mulligan, Andrew "Spiderman-in-Waiting" Garfield, and Keira Knightley work well on their own and together, pretty equally matched. Even Knightley almost completely loses her mannerisms.
Their able support is provided primarily by Charlotte Rampling, doing the best she can with very little, and Sally Hawkins, playing brilliantly against the ebulliance that made her name, as a teacher who can't play the game anymore.
So I guess it's a matter of how surprising you find the film's (and the novel's) premise of a society that cannabalizes some of its children for the benefit of the majority.
Now, on a philosophical level it's an intriguing premise, and one which someone like Nagasaki-born Ishiguro probably wrestles with on a daily basis. And who can blame him.
But for me, the screenplay is too gentle, too remote, its consequences too far below the surface to truly engage me. Others will connect more strongly.
