Tomorrow's Future?

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 2007)

The world is falling apart thanks to us, no doubt. Society has crumbled down to its core, and to top it all, the ultimate insult -- our very own permutation, our ability to procreate -- has gown down the tubes. The last eighteen-year-old -- humanity's last hope -- has also died, leaving us to hold ourselves in horror and wonder where will We go, where did We go wrong.
Theo is an observer to these events and holds no illusion, so it seems. His cousin collects priceless art and also looks the other way. It's only when he is literally shocked into being due to an explosion that occurs only paces away (as a woman tries to grab her own severed arm, a nod to the Guernica that makes its appearance here) and his own kidnapping by an obscure group with even more obscure motives that his own sense of placement in this wreck called Earth comes into progressive being.
The nexus to this is one dark girl who holds a deadly secret: she is with child. She is, apparently, the only known woman in quite some time now who is pregnant, and successfully so. The group who has kidnapped Theo are a band of militants protecting the girl -- among them Theo's former wife Julian who informs him about the "Human Project", an organization which may be humankind's last chance before total annihilation. Their task is simple: escort this girl to the "Human Project" before others with less noble intentions will lay claim on her.
I've always preferred this type of science-fiction over the fairy-tale, comic-book type where worlds are at war and spaceships travel to Far, Far Away (with notable exceptions being Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY). Because a story set in the future, with 'futuristic elements' needs to appeal to a reader or viewer set in the now, it has to accommodate itself to what we know, what we can feel and sense, what we see every day, the familiar. This world, the world of 2027, looks very much like today -- maybe a bit of an advance here and there -- but is virtually a carbon-copy of what we know and see as today. It could even be argued that nothing has changed because we've stopped to reproduce, so technology has also ceased. Decadence rules supreme, a world gone to pot. We've created this for ourselves and now we're wringing our hands and blowing things up because all hope is lost and the government (whatever remains of it) and renegade organizations have taken their own version of action which constricts freedom to its bare essentials. A group of people decide to stand on their own and face the possibility of self-destruction in the name of saving one person who is the One Person who can save us all. This premise makes for a compelling tale.
Alfonso Cuaron avoids making Americanized heroes out of his characters. Because this is a story set in the dark, Theo is not a particularly inviting character (and Clive Owen is the perfect actor to play him with his dark looks, which hint at menace and possible betrayal). He doesn't seem to care much for anything, until he gets a glimpse of this girl in all her nakedness, and slowly realizes that within this group there are interests that may turn her into a circus freak. The time that Cuaron takes to really shape Theo is priceless, because there isn't a single person who would suddenly jump at the idea of becoming someone's savior and protector, without some serious transformations. Theo's is, needless to say, gradual, but no less potent.
Likewise, neither of the supporting characters feel too unbelievable: Julianne Moore's character, while being well-meaning, is not a strong person. Chiwetel Ejiofor also comes across as misguided, with deadly consequences. Michael Caine is the neo-hippie who has stopped looking at reality, and longs for That Time When. And last but not least, the one with the almost thankless role -- Claire Hope-Ashitey -- holds her own in a role which gets stronger and more determined to find her own footing despite the circumstances which grow increasingly dire.