POISON SCOOTER

Children of Men

This masterful piece of art by Alfonso Cuarón, portrays a gloomier than normal Britian, pulling itself apart from the inside because one day children just stopped being born. It's a fascinating story, what would happen if conception just went away and the remaining children became adults. Schools would become wastelands, of no use. The sound of a baby's cry would become foreign.

Would chaos ensue as envisioned by P.D. James (author of the novel the film is based on) and Cuarón's team of writers? Outstanding leaping point for a film, only further exemplified by the brutal realism of the opening, jarring scene. Cities around the world are in turmoil, burning and being seiged by military action. A byproduct of the lack of births appears to be the formation of political activists demanding answers and suspecting the worst of the lechery of the government and the brewings of a race war. Interment camps are once again a reality and immigrants are cattled into these gritty slums and forced to exist in an even worse underbelly than the crumbling cities around them.

The cinematography and camera work draws you into this ugly place, and the set pieces are at once futuristic and contemporary giving this movie a feeling of realism you don't get in most sci-fi pictures. It's an achievement in filmmaking that is rare these days. Intense story, literally a heart racing escape and chase for two hours, actors never detracting from the story with such subtle performances, great use of music to create mood. This is a film to be studied in future college level film course for the next generation of aspiring directors.

One could argue that the relative downer premise and truly sad ending would take away from the film, but I disagree. Movies should exist to make you think and feel. And Children of Men does just that. You will be riveted, ocassionally forced to look away and ultimately invested in the plight of Clive Owen's Theo. A magical experience.

posted by Scooter @ 10:22 AM