Children of Men

Based on the book by P.D. James

Writer: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Director of Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Editor: Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Cuarón
Lead Actor: Clive Owen
Year: 2006

Children of Men is a film I can’t really decide if I like or not. It’s a film that does away with the glitz and glamor of movies to tell its story. In one way it’s a gripping quest, and in another way, it’s a tense thriller. It is a gritty film indeed, in a powerful way. It’s not the music, the rapidity of cuts, there is actually very little of that. The strength and impact of this film is what the filmmakers did with the images.

A guy named Theo (played by Clive Owen) has sort of emotionally distanced himself from a fallen world set in 2027. It’s a world that is sliding to its death. There is disaster and conflict all around. But the most dire tragedy is that women everywhere have been infertile for 18 years.

Then a pregnant girl shows up and the rest of the movie revolves around saving the baby. The woman with the baby is a Fuji, an illegal immigrant who would be hunted down by the government (a flourish put there by the writers for sure). She is taken under the “care” of a group called the “Fishes”, who swim around fighting for the rights of immigrants. Then we find that the Fishes' intentions are not entirely pure. We find out that the baby is yet another one of their agendas.

Ain’t no way that will happen so, through circumstances of fate, the depressed Theo Faron ends up being this young woman’s escort to safety. Their destination is the coast, where a boat called the “Tomorrow” waits just off the shore. Theo and the girl’s journey is by no means smooth. They sometimes find themselves in the middle of just where they don’t want to be.

The baby is a smoldering flicker of hope. The sound of whose crying voice causes a momentary ceasefire among the warring peoples. As one man said it had been so long he “forgot what they looked like”. In a scene at the end when the baby is crying, Theo instructs the mother to put the baby on her shoulder and “tap her back”. “Gently” he says. What a wonderful piece of writing for the end of the film.

I thought this film was very well casted. Clive Owen had enough apathy for his part, which he later turned into enough concern as the baby’s plight surfaced. Julianne Moore was mysterious and yet direct, and not too plastic. Michael Caine fit in his role like a slipper. He was humorous and generous. You know from the moment you meet him that he and his abode re a haven. Clare-Hope Ashitey is still young and learning her acting chops, but she did well as the laboring mother of the child. And for some reason I liked the fact she is black. Before I go I want to mention Charlie Hunnam, who played the Fish Patric. What an intense actor! Although he has a bad mouth, his presence and posture is powerful. “Children of Men” has an eclectic cast from the start. And I won’t even get into Milenka. Or the Fascist PIG!

The director, Alfonso Cuarón, pulled of a few impressively choreographed sequences in Children of Men. One of these incredible achievements takes place in a vehicle. For 4 uncut minutes a camera moves around the inside of this car, filming dialog, an attack outside, and people’s reactions. Everything had to be cued up to happen in frame right when it needed to. The same had to be set in order for later in the film. A 6:16 shot follows characters as they run, pursue ,and are pursued. Gunfire, explosions, reactions, and dialog all had to happen in their appropriate, and safe, order. These accomplishments are indeed impressive from a technical perspective, but in the end, I’m not sure if it really does much for me. It may serve to more effectively immerse one in the action. In fact, I didn’t even notice that there weren’t cuts, or that it was odd to have a camera move around a car like that. So you might say I was sufficiently immersed. But would I have been less involved if there were cuts? Sure would have made it easier on the filmmakers (except maybe the editor ;).

The actual original music in the film is very minimal. Usually what you hear is the ambient music coming from radios and stereos. Music in film is often used to manipulate people’s emotions. Cuarón somehow managed to get away from that. I’m not sure all the music choices were entirely effective for me (maybe the songs used have special significance). Although there is that wonderful theme you might call the “Humanity Theme”. It is an operatic woman’s voice with a bed of stings and it usually appears in the context of the baby. In a way, it is beautiful juxtaposed with the images. It kind of grows on you.

Ok, well, I’ll give Children of Men an 8 out of 10. The 8 stars are for the world the film created and transported us to. And for the special style of filmmaking, that is rare. The 2 stars it lacks are for the meaning that I think the script should have packed more of. There’s a baby for crying out loud! I don’t know. Not sure if I could have done better with what there was to work with. Probably not.