Jasper: What did you do for your birthday?
Theodore Faron: Nothing.
Jasper: Oh come on, you must have done something.
Theodore Faron: Nope. Woke up, felt like shit. Went to work, felt like shit.
Jasper: That’s called a hangover, Amigo.
This has been sitting on my shelf for a long time, waiting for me to put in my computer and watch.
I had been advised to watch this numerous times before, reading so many reviews that praise the brilliance and boldness of the film.
I finally came around to watching this, on my birthday.
Children of Men is a very vicious film. It is a film that cannot promise you hope at every second. It is a movie that does not shy away from a vivid portrayal of a not too distant future, a dystopian mess.
The story leads in to where children have not been born for two decades and the world shatters when one of it’s youngest persons dies. It’s a believeable situation when you think about how the world stops today when a celebrity or royalty dies, or Paris Hilton goes to jail.
But, your attention shifts in a rather clever way when you realize that the future is not all robots and clean edges. The world depends on televisions, advertisements and media. You’re given the sense that everything has gone to hell and the only way we can survive is by relying on politically issued news coverage and a bombardment of socially acceptable medium attacks.
You are also given the sense that the world has this outlandish, yet believeable social collapse that causes such massive racial divides, global persecution and titanic surges in terrorism. In a world such as Children of Men, global fear and hopelessness can only mean destruction.
Clive Owen is spectacular in this film. He fits the very definition of the reluctant hero, epitomized by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series. Although his character says its all about the money, it is rather obvious he wants more to help who he cares about, and once his situation is made clearer, requires a greater need of a leadership role.
As well, Michael Caine is heartbreakingly brilliant as a father figure to the weathered hero. A surprisingly nobel yet gluttonous stoned hippy. He is one of the few sparks of hope you find in this film.
The movie is unflinching throughout, from the first explosion to the epic and revolutionary car chase scene, to one of the most exciting war scenes that I have seen in a movie in some time. (I had hoped Bloody Sunday would hold this title, but alas, you cannot turn away from such amazing direction, with no offense to Paul Greengrass)
In various scenes, director Alfonso Cuarón implements a single-shot technique (the long take) that further emphasizes the importance as well as ferocity of said scenes. Such is the case of possibly the most famous in-car scene, as well as the bus ride into the refugee camp, (which, of itself, is a direct shot to the world today, and a very difficult scene to recall) the opening scene that promptly gives you the sense of what kind of movie you had gotten yourself into, I could go on.
Children of Men is about hope. It is a social commentary for just what we are going to get ourselves into if we stop thinking, stop living for humanity. The dystopia, no matter how far-fetched, is a take on evolution of our current policies and actions towards one another and just what we are capable of if we stop thinking progression and start thinking for ourselves.
Miriam: As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children’s voices.
During the battle scene, as Theo leads Kee and her baby to safety out of a torn building, soldiers realize the hope of humanity is being carried away from war and calls out to cease fire. The battle, the hate, the fear, gunshots, missiles, everything stops once they hear the crying of the first baby born in two decades.
Spout!
Originally posted on:
The PHA