Alfonso Cuaron returns back to form with his brilliant film (after a mildly impressive “Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban”) with a dark, dreary, and bleak vision of the future. Children of men works on several levels; as a thriller it betters recent Hollywood action flicks; as an example of expert film making and on another level it offers a damning indictment on the increasingly right wing political morality currently prevalent in UK and US government (but you don’t have to read that into it to enjoy the movie).
The plot is simple. In the year of 2027, Women are no longer fertile and the worlds youngest citizen, who was just 18 just died. Theodore (Clive Owen) is in London, where explosions are common and cages filled with illegal immigrants rounded up by riot police .When approached by ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore), a figure from his activist days, Theodore finds himself the guardian of a woman who somehow is pregnant, with the hopes of getting her to mysterious group called the Human Project. This girl, Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) is pregnant and an immigrant. Theo is pulled in different directions, not knowing whom to trust in a world which would embrace having a baby, but wouldn’t acknowledge (and probably kill) the baby’s mother because of her immigrant status. Theo must travel past mounting obstacles, past all of the lies and deception, and try and help this girl and her soon to be born baby to reach her destination.
The casting is pretty well perfect. The film features solid performances from Clive Owen, who is at his rugged, rumpled best, and Julianne Moore is underused. Supporting players also do well: Michael Caine is terrific as Theo’s pot-growing hippie friend. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a militant activist who can be both deadly cool and explosively hot.
The cinematography of this film requires a special mention .The camera is fully engaged in the world around the characters. There are several extended shots in this film that are absolutely mind boggling. The piece de resistance is a climactic nine minute extended tracking shot without a single cut. Other poignant images include scenes of caged foreigners ready for transport, an Abu-Ghraib inspired prison -- complete with attack dogs, disrobed and masked prisoners -- and a not-so-subtle visual allusion to Pink Floyd’s classic album cover, "Animals," with an accompanying flying pig.
As good as it is though, this movie is not for everyone. It is very violent, and depressing in its’ portrayal of the future. The government goes through cities blowing everything, and anything away for no apparent reason at all. It is quite disturbing, because many of the themes portrayed in "Children of Men" are not far off from real life. One thing that bothered me was that many things were not explained, like why women where infertile, or why the government had turned on everyone. I’m assuming, in the case of an artsy film like this, that the director wants to leave it up to the viewer to decide some things for himself. One thing that really stood out in this film is that it shows what the world would be like without children, and it wouldn’t be good.
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