Up Against the Wall!

Rating: 7/10 (7 April 2019)

Time has only demonstrated some of the realities of the prophetic nature of Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, especially in regards to the global waves of immigrants seeking a better life and/or refuge especially in North American and European countries.
This grim, bleak film is arguably the best imagining of an urban society facing its descent into anarchy. We see an increasingly, we gather, dictatorial British Government in 2027, being besieged by various activist groups, the most militant being The Fishes. Simultaneously, it is also dealing failingly with huge social upheavels brought about by mass waves of immigrants and a human race trying to adjust to 18 years of female sterility.
This is the background setting for the film which follows the personal journey of Theo, a fearful, cynical, one time activist, who reluctantly becomes the personal guardian of both a mother and her new born, who just may hold the keys to the salvation of humanity. If this sounds like a Nativity story, that's because it is; a Nativity story set in a semi-anarchistic state, with Theo played by Clive Owen, being a Joseph like figure to Kee's Mary and her child Dylan, a Jesus substitute.
Though the film is full of religious symbolism and overtones, the story is quite secular in nature. The film's second and third acts essentially constitute a chase film, but one filmed with an extremely documentary type feel. The camera work is remarkable, but again, very consistent with many of Cuarón's other work. Hand - held cameras are frequently employed but not in the choppy, rapid-fire editing style of many other contemporary works. Cuarón continues to demonstrate in Children of Men, his love for elaborately long tracking shots, as seen in his other films such as Gravity. It makes for some fascinating viewing.
The narrative is less objective with some of the characters' and groups' actions and motivations not always clearly or easily explained.This, in addition to the fact that there is never any explanation offered for female sterility, nor for Kee being able to conceive (thus paralleling the biblical Immaculate Conception).
Children of Men is truly a cinematic project with most critics acknowledging that it is a far superior piece of work, than its source novel written by PD James, more famous for her mystery tales. Those wishing to see some extremely complex, but successfully shot dramatic and action sequences could do far worse than give this film your attention.