This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown round #2”. Read more about that here.
Children of Men
The long takes of realistic and intense action are what make this movie so memorable. The scene where the car hits a roadblock and is attacked by people from the woods, and the motorcycles is just shocking. Shocking because you feel like you are part of the action more than any other movie. You experience the surprise, the point of view, the emotions all at the same time as the characters. Most every other action sequence in a movie has a very removed quality. This must come from editing that flies from numerous angles and perspectives.
The amount of coordination needed for the final long take sequence of the film is almost unimaginable. I wonder how many takes they needed to do and how expensive each one was. When liquid splatters onto the lens during one portion you can almost feel it stabbing into you reminding you that to film a sequence like that with no mistakes must be virtually impossible.
The sequence when the bus drives past all of the immigrants being tortured is one of the most frightening things I've seen, and the images stick with you. This is because you can believe this no only may some day come to happen, and it may happen to you, but it's already happening and has been happening.
Rating: 9/10