Children of Men
2006. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Screenplay by Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton, based on the novel by P.D. James. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Pam Ferris, and Danny Huston.
"As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices."
I came into Children of Men with great expectations. I was on an unbelievable movie high, having seen four movies in a theatre within a weeks time; each one even better than the last terrific film (Letters from Iwo Jima, Dreamgirls, Babel, Pan's Labyrinth). I was pumped about Children of Men and expected it to fit right in with those experiences. So, while I enjoyed the movie, I came away disappointed and I'm having a hard time explaining why. It was a good movie with a good concept and a good cast. It was put together well. Still, I knew from the opening few minutes, it just quite the same level of filmmaking that I had been watching.
The movie is set in a not too distant and very bleak future where the world has collapsed and only England remains. The world, however, has become infertile. The world's youngest human has just been killed and he was eighteen years old. It reminded me in places of Brazil and Blade Runner. Clive Owen, a superb actor, is a cynical former activist who is reluctantly drawn back into action by his former lover. The movie throws out many themes - such as infertility, treatment of immigrants, power-grab opportunity of supposedly well-meaning groups. It doesn't try to explore the why's, it just lets its actions play out inside of them. It functions for quite a bit of the time as a bloody, brutal chase movie as Owen's Theo tries to transport the first pregnant woman in almost two decades to safety. Cuaron plays with a lot of important ideas and makes sure we leave thinking and talking. He also pulls a Janet Leigh on us with Julianne Moore. The more I think about the movie, the more respect I have for it. I'll be willing to check it out again on dvd. For now, it may be a disappointment, but it still ranks a B+ and an at least temporary spot at the bottom of my top ten list.
My grade: B+
"As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices."
I came into Children of Men with great expectations. I was on an unbelievable movie high, having seen four movies in a theatre within a weeks time; each one even better than the last terrific film (Letters from Iwo Jima, Dreamgirls, Babel, Pan's Labyrinth). I was pumped about Children of Men and expected it to fit right in with those experiences. So, while I enjoyed the movie, I came away disappointed and I'm having a hard time explaining why. It was a good movie with a good concept and a good cast. It was put together well. Still, I knew from the opening few minutes, it just quite the same level of filmmaking that I had been watching.
The movie is set in a not too distant and very bleak future where the world has collapsed and only England remains. The world, however, has become infertile. The world's youngest human has just been killed and he was eighteen years old. It reminded me in places of Brazil and Blade Runner. Clive Owen, a superb actor, is a cynical former activist who is reluctantly drawn back into action by his former lover. The movie throws out many themes - such as infertility, treatment of immigrants, power-grab opportunity of supposedly well-meaning groups. It doesn't try to explore the why's, it just lets its actions play out inside of them. It functions for quite a bit of the time as a bloody, brutal chase movie as Owen's Theo tries to transport the first pregnant woman in almost two decades to safety. Cuaron plays with a lot of important ideas and makes sure we leave thinking and talking. He also pulls a Janet Leigh on us with Julianne Moore. The more I think about the movie, the more respect I have for it. I'll be willing to check it out again on dvd. For now, it may be a disappointment, but it still ranks a B+ and an at least temporary spot at the bottom of my top ten list.
My grade: B+
posted by Keith Allison at 9:30 PM
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