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By
WAYNE KLEIN
A dystopian tale set in 2027
and based on a novel by P.D. James, "Children of
Men" takes place in a future where women suddenly
become infertile. The world is tearing itself
apart and the only sea of tranquility is Britain
yet that tranquil sea is very much an illusion as
the nation has turned into a police state where
everyone must carry their passport to prove they
are citizens or be shipped out to a war zone like
concentration camp. Theo (Clive Owen) once an
activist seems trapped in an emotional war zone of
his own of apathy having never recovered from the
death of his son nearly a decade before. His own
emotions have become still born. When his ex-wife
(Julianne Moore) the head of a radical terrorist
group called The Fish asks for his help in
smuggling a pregnant woman named Kee (Claire-Hope
Ashitey) to safety, he is reluctantly drawn into
her plan for the money but finds that his emotions
immerge from their cocoon as well becoming the man
he used to be.
In a dreary year for science fiction films,
"Children of Men" finally presents an oasis of
memorable images, characters and observations.
Director Alfonso Cuarón wisely turned down the
chance to director the sequel to his "Harry Potter
and the Prisoner of Azkaban" to helm this project.
Brilliantly directed with a marvelous, rich
screenplay by Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David
Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (one suspects
that the bulk of the writers on these projects
worked on earlier drafts that have little
resemblance to the final product) the film uses
the heavy handed imagery of P.D. James novel to
its advantage. Clive Owen continues to prove he's
a magnificent and underrated actor. He brings
depth and presence to his world weary portrayal of
Theo. The film features strong support
performances by Danny Huston, Chiwetel Ejiofor and
Michael Caine adding a sense of gritty reality to
the proceedings.
The gritty look of the film is quite intentional
as the director Alfonso Cuarón ("Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban", "Y Tu Mama Tambien")
wanted to make the audience feel as if they were
seeing a realistic look at the future. As a result
the film has both the gritty feel of a documentary
in terms of the film grain but also in terms of
the constant camera movement throughout the film.
While there aren't a huge amount of special
features many are worthwhile. First up we get
three deleted scenes that run around 2 minutes.
While none of them are essential at least two
amplify the desperate situation that Theo finds
himself in; one features Theo's apartment manager
showing up at his door for four months past due
rent while another continues Theo's meeting with
his cousin who is a member of the government and
collects artwork.
We also get "Children of Men Comments by
philosopher Slavoj Zizek" which most folks are
going to skip. While some of his observations are
interesting, they're the type of observations that
you'd hear in a basic philosophy class. I suppose
they are included to give legitimacy to this
science fiction film but his comments aren't
necessary to recognize the power of this film.
"Under Attack" highlights the long takes used
throughout the film. We hear from star Owen,
director Cuarón and the producers discussing the
difficulty in shooting the action sequences with
these long fluid takes shot on location. Cuarón's
vision for the film required constant camera
movement which doesn't allow the filmmakers to
fake it as they might normally. In particular we
see the sequence where Theo, his ex-wife and
others attacked in the country in their car and
how it was put together with physical effects
allowing for a 12 minute uninterrupted take.
"Theo and Julian" allows us to hear the actors
Julianne Moore and Clive Owen's thoughts on their
character. Director Cuarón also chimes in on the
collaborative nature of creating a character with
his actors and integrating their suggestions into
an already finished script. It's clear that he
relishes the collaborative nature of film and that
the performers that have worked with him enjoyed
the project as well.
"Futuristic Design" focuses on the production
design with comments by producer Hilary Shor and
how they had to straddle the line between the
futuristic look of the film while also grounding
it in our world. Jim Clay and Jennifer Williams
the production designer and set designer
respectively discuss how the natural instinct is
to go for a visually strong look for a science
fiction film. He suggested they fight that
instinct create and use ugly environments that
refer to our current world to bring home the
gritty reality of the film as much as possible.
Using London as their background the designers
created a world that is as old and tired looking
reflecting the biological sterility facing mankind
but also reflects a world that is at the brink of
collapse.
"Visual Creating the Baby" highlights the delivery
scene in the film. Created with CGI this sequence
was difficult to shoot because they couldn't use a
real baby for the sequence and had to use a
combination of prosthetics, CGI and physical
effects to create the sequence. Small details such
as Theo's breath in the freezing room where the
baby is delivered were created in post-production
and digitally inserted.
An effective, powerful science fiction thriller,
"Children of Men" features a number of powerful
performances from Owen's world weary take on Theo
to Moore's activist Julian their performances
bring gravity to the situations in the film adding
another level suggesting this world is just around
the corner from our own. |
