P.D. James’ novel
Children of Men comes alive onscreen (albeit with a couple of major plot changes) via the masterful filmmaking of Alfonso Cuaron (
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,
Y Tu Mama Tambien). Cuaron skillfully weaves a fascinating story of nightmarish proportions by smoothly mixing high drama, dark humor, and one of the most riveting action sequences in recent history, into the tale of a dystopic society we can only hope is in no way prophetic.
Children of Men envisions a world in which women can no longer give birth. The youngest person on Earth has just died at the age of 18 and the fact that man will soon be extinct is a foregone conclusion. The world is one big war zone and no one feels safe or secure. A totalitarian government is in place in London and people who try to enter the country who aren’t residents are placed in holding pens and treated like cows.
Theo (Clive Owen) exists in this world as an ex-activist-turned-bureaucrat. He begins most days by stopping in at a café to pick up his morning cup of coffee. But one particular day is unlike any others. Upon exiting the shop, a bomb goes off. Shortly thereafter, he’s kidnapped and reunited with his ex-lover, Julian (Julianne Moore in a restrained performance), a fearless, furious freedom fighter who needs help only Theo can provide.
Reluctantly drawn back into a world he’d left behind, Theo finds himself the key player in a plot to smuggle Kee (newcomer Claire-Hope Ashitey), an important refugee, out of the country and into the hands of a group of activists who have agreed to take care of her. However handing over Kee to the group isn’t an easy task, and events are soon put into motion that place the twosome at the center of a dangerous war. Kee and Theo must overcome incredible odds or else all hope for survival of our species will be lost forever.
Michael Caine and Clive Owen in "Children of Men."
© Universal Pictures
Writer/director Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (
The New World) create a film experience that mimics battlefield reality to a T. Cuaron and Lubezki capture the highly adrenalized sequences using a single camera, and large portions of the action scenes were shot in one take - without cut-aways or other trickery. That choice of visual style helps the audience feel as though we’re right there running alongside Kee and Theo, actually participating in the harrowing, life or death experiences. Cuaron and company do a splendid job of putting the viewer smack dab in the center of the action.
Cuaron wisely chose to lighten the story by turning the camera on Michael Caine as an aging hippie/activist. Although their time together onscreen is short, Caine and Owen’s easy rapport and superb acting make it feel as though we're privy to private conversations between two old friends who truly love and respect one another. Despite the bleak circumstances and overall dark mood of the film, these moments between Caine as Jasper and Owen as Theo don’t jar you away from the film as much as they serve to humanize Theo, the film’s reluctant hero.
Children of Men is a scary look into the not-so-distant, not-so-inconceivable future. The line between who’s good and who’s bad is non-existent as even the rebels are acting more to fulfill their own desire for power rather than to help the downtrodden masses. Yet
Children of Men is not a hopeless story, but more of a cautionary tale. And the way Cuaron tells it, one where a ray of hope shines through during mankind’s bleakest moments.
GRADE: A-
Children of Men was directed by Alfonso Cuaron and is rated R for strong violence, language, some drug use and brief nudity.
