Children of Men

Casey Davis — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:29:39 +0000

Starring Clive Owen and directed and written by Alfonso Cuaron (director of Harry Potter, The Prisoner of Azkaban but more widly known for his spanish language movies) comes Children of Men, a stunning and brilliant depiction of a chilling dystopian future. The film takes place in the year 2027 and mankind has not been able to conceive a child for 18 years. Governments all around the world have broken down due to the chaos caused by the infertility and only Britian remain solvent, although just barely. Immigration is completely illeagel due to the huge number of global refugees, and british citizens live a controled and moniterd existence. The movie centers on Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a former hippy protester turned government worker who finds himself pulled back into working with a radical pro immigrant group called The Fishes and led by his former love (Julianne Moore). Theo finds himself thrust with the responsiblity of protecting a young girl who might hold the key for mankinds future.

The plot is immersive and covers topics ranging from Government control and terrorism to immigration rights overpopulation and legalization of ganja. It is very well acted with some great character acting by several actors and a particuarily good and nuanced performance by Clive Owen, but what really made this movie was the dynamic way it was shot. Children of Men is a stunning movie containing some of the most breathtaking and compelling cinematography in recent memory. Every scene is shot with care and an inspiring attention to detail and many of the best scenes are long complex single shots that are amazing in scope and vision. The action scenes are intense and visceral in a way that reminds me of some of the best war scenes from Saving Private Ryan, and the movie maintains a very real and enthralling look. The director does a great job of not, like so many other movies about dystopian futures, focusing his attention on the technology of the future but keeping his movie rooted in charachters and themes that are universal and very compelling.

Children of men is one of the best and most original movies i’ve seen in a long time, it was overlooked by most people when it came out, but this movie deserves a watch by anybody who loves good movies.

The Entertainment Authority » British

Children of Men