Deep Political Symbolism

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2006)

Being somewhat of sceptic of any movie coming from Hollywood, I find myself pleasantly surprised with this movie. Alfonso Cuarón paints a picture of society set in a not so distant future, a society where class divide, discrimination and brutal repression have become integral polices of the British Government. The movie uses contemporary social issues affecting the U.K and in general the Western Hemisphere to highlight the main theme of social injustice and despair. I feel the story of women being unable to procreate is merely a sideline, the true message focuses on what the world has become, drawing on the example migrant resentment and hate, the film also outlines that Islamophobia and discrimination of Muslims has become common place in a not so distant Britain. The film uses a Neo-Marxist approach to understand the society, where the ruling class government will boycott minorities (migrants), use fear and manipulation to create a totalitarian and authoritarian state. Evidence of this is subtly put when Micheal Caine sates that when there is political scandal of sort a bomb goes off, deflecting the attention of the masses away from the government. The vivid imagery and violence adds a true sense of realism to this film, this of course is visible most of all in the end battle scene or "Uprising" as mentioned in the movie and is the pinnacle of the movie, what must be noted that if you looked closely when the refugee camp scene starts you will spot the words Intifada(uprising) written in Arabic on one of the walls. The refugee camp scene draws many parallels with Guantanamo Bay(camp x-ray) and in Iraq the Abu Ghraib Prison used by the American army to dehumanise Iraqis not to mention conjuring up memories of the holocaust. The most important parallel of the movie is the end battle scene one cannot help bridging the refugee camp and Uprising (Intifada) and tanks rolling in and bombing the city to bits an echo of the Palestinian West bank refugee camps being destroy by Israeli army incursions. The end scene is without a doubt the most gripping and powerful of the movie. Clive Owen, Micheal Caine and Julianne Moore give a excellent performance in this eye opener of a film.