MovieChat Forums > Never Let Me Go (2010) Discussion > Clones or Orphans

Clones or Orphans

posted 9 years ago by xristospsixogios
8 replies | jump to latest

Ok! I must be a complete idiot but ''Never Let Me Go'' is one of my favorite films and just after my 3rd screening I came here and read in some posts that Kathy,Tomy and Ruth were in fact clones. I believed that they were just orphans or unwanted children and they ended up to Halsam because they didn't have anyone to take care of them. I haven't read the book yet and I'm completely shocked because of the revelation. It wasn't really mentioned during the whole film that they were clones only from side to side without even mentioning something from their cloning process and I just cannot imagine something like that taking place in 1960s. Thoughts....!??!

*excuse me for my writing but English is not my native language.

[–] greg-233 9 years ago

The novel makes it clearer that the children are indeed clones. At school they learned that they were sterile. When Kathy and Tommy go to Miss Emily's house (in the novel), she actually uses the word "clones". Emily reveals a lot of other information to Kathy and Tommy, such as the "Morningdale scandal".

The actual cloning process isn't really dwelt upon. We just know the story takes place in an alternate universe where human cloning became a reality. How this came about is anyone's guess. Personally, I'm inclined to believe that the point where history diverged from our "own" version of history would have been some time during World War Two. Perhaps there was a gifted geneticist who died in our own universe, but lived to lead a successful research team in the alternate universe?

[–] Nobbsy 9 years ago

Where do the clone fetuses develop? In human surrogates or animal wombs or what? It's not explained in the movie. What about the book?

[–] ncdwbmk6 9 years ago

I don't recall the book explaining it either. I suppose it's presumed there are laboratories somewhere that provide that function.

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Fowler's knots? Did you say ... fowler's knots?

[–] flowers_on_the_razorwire 9 years ago

I think Kazuo Ishiguro mentioned in an interview that at the beginning of the donor programme the clone children were inplanted into volunteers or women in prison, in exchange for a shortening of their sentence, so they would be born the normal way. Later on the process would become mechanical, but I don't think he went into any sort of detail and it was never included in the book or the film.

[–] Hungerhill 8 years ago

Do you remember Ruth looking in the shop window because she thinks her donor is in there....the lady who resembles her?

[–] cammysmum 8 years ago

The film explains that there was a medical breakthrough in the 50s. We then later see Ruth looking at a 'possible' in the office in Norfolk only to realise she can't be her 'original'. She even says 'I'm not her!' We also see Kathy looking through a porographic magazine hoping to find her original.

You also see a couple of people being uncomfortable around them, particularly Madame who seems to almost shudder at them.

I'd highly recommend the book, Kazuo Ishiguro goes deeper into this in the book. I have to say that the characters having been born to volunteers and women in prison is not in the book so that's very interesting. Thanks to the person who offered that bit of information forward. I need to look up a few more interviews with Kazuo Ishiguro!

[–] kellycallie (728) 7 years ago

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[–] kellycallie (728) 6 years ago

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