Review of Children of Men

Children of Men (2006)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Cast: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Michael Caine, Pam Ferris, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Time: 109 min.

Rating:

What elevates storytelling to an art are details that subtly convey themes and messages without encumbering the characters or the plot. In this sense, Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men, based on the P.D. James novel, is simply brilliant, perhaps one of the finest works of cinematic storytelling ever.

The film’s plot is relatively simple. 20 years in the future, women have mysteriously become infertile, and the human race is faced with extinction. This knowledge has plunged civilization into chaos: New York has been nuked, the US has collapsed, and most of the Western world has imploded. England remains the only semi-safe place on the planet, although it is deporting hordes of illegal immigrants and battling “terrorist” rebel organizations. By some miracle, one young immigrant woman named Kee (Ashitey) has become pregnant, and a rebel group known as the Fishes is guarding her.

Civil servant Theo Faron (Owen) gets involved with the Fishes when they approach him to secure forged transport papers so they can take Kee to rendezvous point where they will hand her over to the Human Project, a mythical colony that is supposedly working on a solution to the infertility problem. Theo uncovers the Fishes’ more sinister plans for Kee, and he decides to help her reach the rendezvous point.

Although this plot comes loaded with some interesting built-in themes, Cuarón uses it to make some insightful social and political commentaries on the contemporary political environment and popular culture. He achieves this through the sublime details that permeate nearly every scene of Children of Men and make the film a visual (and intellectual) treat to watch.

Among the opening scenes is a news report about the murder of the youngest person in the world, who gained celebrity status simply by being the last person born on the planet. Groups of people stand around televisions watching this report, sobbing uncontrollably as if their dearest friend had just passed away. It’s a great comment on our celebrity-obsessed culture.

Throughout the film, signs in the background flash warnings for citizens to watch for illegal immigrants and terrorists. After several excessively paranoid signs appear on screen, one rather tame, but authentic, sign can be seen: “Report any suspicious activity.” Its juxtaposition among the others says more about Western paranoia than any spoken dialog could.

Other notable details include a detention way station that resembles Guantanamo Bay, complete with scenes of Abu Ghraib-style torture, and an immigrant refugee camp that resembles Ramallah or Gaza. The film also uses details to create a journey through human civilization: Picasso’s Guernica creates a backdrop in one scene, and Michelangelo’s David dominates another, while a sewer features prehistoric cave paintings.

Even the soundtrack conveys a message. Throughout the film, numerous rock songs from the ’60s and ’70s fill the air, including the Rolling Stones’ Ruby Tuesday and King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King. Interspersed among these is a bevy of classical music. The message: as humans, we focus too heavily on the past as though the future doesn’t exist.

As for the acting, Clive Owen is believable as an apathetic ex-activist thrust into a nearly incomprehensible situation that reignites his faith in the world. Michael Caine and Julianne Moore are competent in their supporting roles. Because Children of Men isn’t a character piece, the characters don’t drive it or the action. Still, they are developed extremely well and give the film a humanity that is severely lacking in this futuristic setting.

One cinematic touch that truly deserves praise is Cuarón’s ability to create a first-person perspective without using voiceovers or interior monologues. We see the action and learn about this world exactly as Theo does. We watch him eavesdropping on the Fishes in their safe house and stand with him on a hill observing the interrogation of his friend.

What denies Children of Men from being a perfect film is its failure to be completely well-rounded. The storytelling is brilliant, but the acting hasn’t been fully developed. The scenes are amazingly detailed, but their composition hasn’t been as carefully constructed. The images are stunning in their impact, but the cinematography has been overlooked.

As a result, Children of Men is a cinematic triumph, but it fails to transcend into art. This is really an insignificant point, and the film is certainly the best one that has emerged from Hollywood in 2006. To not see Children of Men would be a childish, inhuman thing to do.