No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
-Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)
A few nights ago I saw Children of Men, a very bleak, but powerful 'what-if' film directed by Alfonso Cuarón. It begins in the year 2027, a time when the world is facing a fertility crisis and the world's youngest person has just been assassinated at the age of 18. The wonderfully melancholy Clive Owen plays a former activist who finds himself entrusted to escort a young woman to a mysterious organization known only as the Human Project.
It would be unfair of me to give away much more of the plot than that. What I did love about this film is that you feel like you're thrown into the story with Owen's character and are with him every step of the way. You feel his sense of apathy and numbness at the beginning of the film and you share his sense of confusion and deperation as the story continues. A large part of this is due to how the film is shot; Owen inhabits nearly every frame of the film. There are a couple of masterful documentary type shots that really pull you into the action without being overly showy or slick. One spectacular one-take shot, follows him for nearly ten minutes as he lurches and stumbles through a chaotic battlefield. At one point, as somebody is shot, even the camera lens is spattered with blood.
I also liked how they depicted the London of tomorrow. It depicts this particular future as if technology had peaked at around 2010 and had slowly begun to decline along with mankind. There are a few hints of changes (different car designs, slimmer computers and animated billboards) but the surroundings are painted in shabby blues and browns. There's also an incredible attention to detail - just check out the London 2012 Olympics fleece in the picture above. The imagery borrows a lot from the depressing footage we see of terrorism and warfare everyday, but brings them closer to home. London is filled with detainee prisons similar to the pictures we have seen of Abu Ghraib, and the streets evoke images of cities like Beruit or Iraq.
The bleakness, however, is softened by an underlying tenderness and feeling of hope. I noticed that there were a few points in the movie that reflected the idealism of the sixties and early seventies. Michael Caine shows up as a pot-smoking former activist, and in a flashback photo of his character, he looks remarkly like John Lennon. The soundtrack makes great use of songs such as The Stones 'Ruby Tuesday', Deep Purple's 'Hush' and in one particulary appropriate scene, King Crimson's epic 'Court of the Crimson King'. Other references include a surprise cameo by the Pink Floyd pig from the 'Animals' album cover and memories of a long dead child named Dylan.
As a piece of grafitti says in one scene, 'The future's a thing of the past'.
4 comments:
I saw it recently too - it's a fantastic film. Even though it's set in the future, it really captures the feel of living in the UK. One of the best visions of a realistic future I've ever seen. Great story, too.
That one-take sequence is astounding, but the earlier one-take sequence in the car I found, for some reason, even more powerful (best not give away what happens) - a heart-stopping couple of minutes.
Yeah, great isn't it? I know what you mean about the earlier one-take car sequence. It's so well done and so shocking you really feel like you're a part of the film.
Who would've thought that a Mexican director could make such a great UK sci-fi film?
Just saw this last night. I tend to find myself getting bored with violence in movies (not sure what that says about me) but I was awed by this film. The moment when Theo and Kee were leaving the apartment block type building was amazing. I had actually forgotten until the end that it was Cuaran and then it all made sense why I was so drawn to it. He's definitely made it to my list of "must see" Directors.
i saw that a few weeks ago. i thought it was very depressing.
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