Powerful stuff

Rating: 10/10 (27 September 2006)

I went to see Children of Men with friends, having no knowledge of it whatsoever - I didn't even know who was in the cast - and found it to be undoubtedly one of the finest, most powerful films I have seen in many years. Fine acting from all concerned and a gripping, well written storyline were of course major factors, but by far the biggest contributor in my opinion was the directing style, which traded the usual theatrics of violence and death for the same sort of matter-of-fact, gritty realism that I have only encountered previously in Saving Private Ryan - itself deeply powerful and heart-rending. The climactic battle scene, with its one continuous shot following Theo's desperate search for Kee and the baby, is one of the most emotive, harrowing pieces of cinema I have ever encountered. You share every thought, every fear, every emotion he goes through.
Undoubtedly one of 2006's 'Must-See' films.