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 Children
of Men (2006)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Universal Studios / 2007
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Writer: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton & P.D. James
Starring: Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Michael Caine,
Julianne Moore & Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Review by Annie Riordan
The year is 2027 and it’s been 18 years since the last baby
was born. The human race, facing extinction, has turned the
world into a vast war zone, where cities lay in ruin,
refugees rot in prison camps and all hope has died.
Disillusioned former activist Theo is snapped out of his
dull and grief-stricken existence by his ex-girlfriend
Julian, the leader of a rebellion who needs Theo’s
connections to secure safe passage for a young girl named
Kee. Kee has miraculously become pregnant, and her safe
delivery to The Human Project may provide new hope for
mankind. Though unwilling at first, Theo quickly becomes the
girl’s fierce protector, guiding her through a war torn
landscape and risking everything to save her and her baby.
This incredibly bleak and unrelentingly grim Orwellian
nightmare is absolutely beautiful from start to finish,
perhaps the most realistic vision of Things To Come yet
thrown up on a movie screen. There’s no cute robots, no
miraculous gadgets, no wondrous technologies - just a gray,
dismal landscape of hopelessness and despair, where war
rages in every street, in front of every home. The
cinematography is fucking amazing - long, unbroken shots,
lasting as long as six minutes, circle seamlessly around the
action, giving this already intense viewing experience a
gritty, You-Are-There documentary feel. The cast is perfect,
so real in their characterizations that you forget you’re
watching a movie, and that these are actors. Watching them
interact is akin to watching someone’s home movies. Children
Of Men will be a long time in leaving your head. |
