Children of Men

It is the year 2027. Women are infertile. A human child has not been born in over 18 years. No one can explain why. The world is in chaos. The only part of the world with any form of order is England, this is, if you call martial law "order". Euthanasia packets are marketed on television in the same way all presciption drugs are today, promoting a sunny alternative to the realities that surround us. England's borders are closed and a strict anti-immigration policy is in place that the Bush administration would probably describe as "startlingly erotic". But in the middle of this dystopia, a woman has been discovered to be pregnant.

That is the premise behind Children of Men, the film I just got home from watching. Words really cannot describe the sheer beauty of this film, suffice to say that if you aren't crying by the time it is over, you have no fucking soul.

Alfonso Cuarón has directed a masterpiece, plain and simple. In telling this story, he sucks you in immediately. There are no title cards, voiceovers or montages explaining the backstory as most Hollywood directors would have done. There are no long winded first-person speeches setting the emotional state of the characters or anything else that insults your intelligence. Anything in this movie that comes close is done very delicately and only when absolutely neccessary.

With most movies today I'm usually shocked to see characters with any depth to them at all, but with Children of Men, even though it takes place in a world we (hopefully) will never know, I found myself fully understanding everyone's motivations. Whatever their agenda, good or bad, I saw why each and every character did what they did. They all believed that what they were doing was the absolute right thing to do.

Clive Owen gives a performance that makes you proud he turned down James Bond to do this. His balance of weary cynicism and heroic selflessness in this film is nothing short of amazing. Julianne Moore so nailed the complexity of her character, in a way that if she was wearing a clown nose and speaking through a kazoo the whole time, no one would have taken issue with it. Michael Caine is perfection incarnate as a wise old sage/bohemian recluse/merry prankster/compassionate father figure who brings both much-needed levity to the story as well as one of its heaviest, most heart-wrenching moments. Newcomer Clare-Hope Ashitey plays the pregnant woman at the center of the story with innocence, fear, hope and strength, all flowing from her simultaneously.

The film is one of those rare films that must stand alone. It cannot be lumped in with any other film, either as a casual double-feature, or in a hackneyed review on a blog, or as a full course in film school. I read a review blurb comparing it to Blade Runner After seeing Children of Men I have a feeling that reviewer must've been out getting popcorn for at least two-thirds of the movie, because aside from the commonality that it takes place in a bleak future, those two films are worlds apart and should not be mentioned in the same sentence.

NOTE: I know what I'm talking about on that one. I watch Blade Runner at least once every two weeks. It's a great movie, but it cannot even touch this.

There's such an emphasis on life in this film. Even though the world is in shambles, and that a quick and painless death is not only available for all, but advertised like a Claritin ad, that so many people still vow to go about their lives. Even in such a hopeless dystopia, there are still working stiffs. People still work towards maintaining some inkling of civilization. People still fight for freedom. People still tell jokes. There's a character that collects art even though the human race won't be around to appreciate it. Even in the seemingly absence of all hope, there's still hope!

If I have one fear about this film, it would be that it could be politicized as an argument against abortion. Even a dyed-in-the-wool liberal like me has gotta admit, it would make a damned good argument in that case. The message of humanity and its need to be saved (or in reference to our time, cherished and not taken for granted) is so strong that it would make a parent speed home afterwards just to hold their child in their arms, to make a woman who's vowed never to have kids drop an egg, and to make infertile couples want to go home and have one more marathon fuck session just in case. I'm not saying I'm changing my political views, not by a long shot, but it does say something about the power of cinema.

If a guy like me could ever narrow down a favorite movie of all time, I would have to put this as number one with a bullet. Nothing I've seen in the past ten years has come anywhere close to Children of Men.