Take Note Filmmakers, Cuaron's "Children of Men" is the Best Film Made in Recent History

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2007)

Read This and Other Reviews at TheExpeditioner.com There are certain films whose story will be pored over, ruminated, discussed and wildly interpreted to the point of frustration. "Children of Men," Alfonso Cuaron's fourth English-language film, is not and should not be one. Instead, it is a pre-apocalyptic work of art whose genius derives not from the somewhat illogical plot line but from its masterful use of vivid imagery and cinematography of the highest caliber, leaving the audience enthralled and in a state of disbelief throughout the entire film.
"Children of Men," (a quotation from the bible: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!") is essentially a nativity story based in a decaying not-too-distant future where women have become infertile and England has become an inhospitable haven for outlawed immigrants whose influx has led the British government to outlaw them entirely. Amidst this chaos the archetypal hero (aimless, emotionally defunct, melancholic) Theodore (Clive Owen) is recruited to accompany a pregnant refugee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) to safety out of warring Britain and into the hands of a group named The Human Project, located offshore in the Azores. Why exactly she can't stay and have the baby (fear that the government won't allow it because she's an immigrant or fear that rebel groups will use her as propaganda are two somewhat implausible reasons suggested) or what The Human Project actually does (a Mediterranean Manhattan Project plotting to begin civilization over again) are two of the more glaring questions that need to be quickly discarded to truly enjoy this film.
Cuaron explained in a recent interview that he was not so much interested in addressing these questions as he was in exploring the metaphors presented by a civilization unable to procreate and the hopes that one child could bring to a hopeless people. But what he fails to mention is that he is very intent on creating a cinematic experience that has never been felt before; one that is created not by the story but by the monumental work behind the camera.
Never before have I seen special effects so effectively used than in Children of Men; exemplified by their almost invisibility (take note George Lucas - on second thought, please stop making movies). Whereas the standard vision of the future in film has been unfamiliar (Blade Runner, Mad Max, maybe even Waterworld), here the future is a mere twenty years off and the world is eerily similar, save for the minor technological advances such as digital billboards displayed on building facades and slightly more ergonomic cars. Filmed throughout with a bluish/grey hue, the world appears significantly more rundown but quite recognizable, as would be the case in this fictional social state, and the familiar London sites are seamlessly transformed digitally into pseudo-military checkpoints and public holding cells. Other poignant images inserted surreptitiously include scenes of caged foreigners ready for transport, an Abu-Ghraib inspired prison -- complete with attack dogs, disrobed and masked prisoners -- and a not-so-subtle visual allusion to Pink Floyd's classic album cover, "Animals," with an accompanying flying pig.
Even more impressive is the way that Cuaron utilizes digital effects to give the allusion that the film has been shot in a series of long tracking shots, some of which run as long as nine minutes. Most impressive of these is during the film's climax where the hand-held camera seemingly follows the action of Theo from outside a war torn building, up several flights of stairs, through a gun battle and back down outside amidst scores of extras fighting, yelling and cowering from gunshots - a shot so complex and physically impossible it is a wonder that at the time I didn't realize it was not truly a single take. What Cuaron achieves through this digital trick-of-hand (the scenes are actually several different shots digitally connected to appear as a single take) is to transport the audience directly into the midst of the action, sometimes in the first-person view, creating an exhilaratingly involving experience that has been lost with the contemporary trend of quick inserts and rapid-fire editing.
The real accomplishment is that through the use of these techniques and despite the otherwise distracting plot holes, "Children of Men" transports the audience so entirely and convincingly into this rugged, bleak future that the simple act of childbirth creates an immense emotional impact. The result is that by the end the audience is left completely exhausted and mentally drained by the travails that Theo has gone through to deliver this small glimmer of hope into an otherwise hopeless world.
As a I rode home after the film I heard a post 9/11 recorded announcement on the subway alerting passengers to be aware of suspicious packages or people; an alert not unlike the ones played throughout the film warning Londoners of the danger of foreigners. A striking similarity between a world so different from the recent past and a world portrayed so close in the future -- a similarity not lost at all on the makers of "Children of Men."