and brilliantly filmed in hard, flat, crisp

Rating: 10/10 (13 September 2006)

PD James's future-nightmare novel of a world without children has been turned into an explosively violent and chillingly real movie, probably the best film in the Venice festival competition so far. It is directed by Alfonso Cuarón and brilliantly filmed in hard, flat, crisp detail by his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. The digitally realised vision of a reactionary, Orwellian Britain in 2027, with its seedy streetscapes periodically smashed by terrorist bombs, is eerily convincing, and the spectacular sequences of all-out urban warfare are electrifying and very scary.There are great cameos, chiefly one from Michael Caine as an ageing hippy who grows ganja in a secret woodland hideout and hooks Theo up with a counter-cultural support network.Peter Mullan puts in a bravura appearance as Syd, a border guard and one of Caine's weed clientele, who is able to smuggle them away from both the authorities and the terrorists. It's a smart and funny performance from the multi-talented Mullan, and it would incidentally be good to see him direct another film, as his last one, The Magdalene Sisters, won the Golden Lion here at Venice in 2002.Apart from everything else, this is a great action film, with thrilling and nail-biting moments that are all the more gripping for taking place in a ruined future world, which looks all too plausible. Added to this is Cuarón's subtle dimension of metaphor and parable: it is humankind's spiritual sterility and vanity which has made possible their catastrophic despoiling of the planet. This is quite an achievement for Cuarón, who must surely be a contender for the big prize.