UnHollywood in so many ways

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2007)

Start saying your prayers, friends, because the end of the world is here. In less than a hundred years, humanity will see its demise. Thanks to an unknown affliction humans are no longer able to reproduce, and all we can do is wait for the end. This is the bleak and dismal view of the future as presented by Children of Men. The film is loosely based on the science-fiction novel by P.D. James, and it paints the post-apocalyptic landscape of the world in the darkest shades of despair and helplessness.
Children of Men is the journey of Theo Faron (Clive Owen) as he takes the miraculously pregnant Kee to the safe haven provided by The Human Project. More plot details are unnecessary because the film isn't so much about the story. The film doesn't really have a deep message or agenda. Apart from the few scenes with the refugees and their Auschwitz-like camps, most of the film does not contain fodder for lengthy debates. So what remains are just the narrative and the visuals, and the film excels in both the departments.
The narration in the film is above par as events unfold with masterful fluidity. The story progress with a rare forcefulness. Characters, both big and small, are ended with almost no consideration for their weight because that is what the story demands. This is done without a hint of pretension or self-consciousness that one might see in lesser works. Taking the motif of realism forward are the dialogues. The conversations are so natural that they give considerably more significance to even simple lines. The film just has oodles of unHollywoodness all over it. The characters aren't testosterone-pumping hulks or know-it-all world-beaters. They are simple people caught in circumstances they don't know how to deal with, but know the significance of their actions. Even as a visual medium this film does almost just as well as its story-telling. The washed-out colours complement the hopelessness of the world it shows. The gut-wrenching refugee camp scenes show an unflattering side of humanity, a side that might not be so far behind us.
The perfectly-captured dystopian world, the unflinching narrative, and the strikingly real characters make for a very special film. Highly recommended.