Children of Men: Movie, DVD, HD DVD Review (2006)

8/20/2007 Posted by Admin

It’s the year 2027, we’re in London and the situation is chaos, though hardly only in Britain. The world has collapsed into ruin and the human race is facing its end.

Women no longer are able to conceive children -- they’re infertile. The last child, a young man affectionately known as Baby Diego, was famously born 18 years, four months, 20 days, 16 hours and eight minutes ago, and news about him is bleak.

He just was stabbed to death outside a bar in Buenos Aires after refusing to sign an autograph for a demented fan. He died in the streets -- as did his killer, who was slaughtered by the crowd -- with the weeping masses now forced to once again face their own mortality (and the world’s, really) in the wake of Diego’s death.

Welcome to the new year, folks, and welcome to Alfonso Cuaron’s superb "Children of Men." From P.D. James’ novel, the film is one of 2006’s best, a smart, thought-provoking tour de force that’s harrowing.

The film stars Clive Owen as Theo, a cynical, disillusioned former radical who is kidnapped early in the movie by a group called The Fishes. The lead member is Theo’s ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore), who needs transit papers for Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a young Fuji woman who must get past security checkpoints in order to reach the coast. As far as Julian sees it, Theo’s wealthy cousin, Nigel (Danny Huston), has the connections to make this virtually impossible request happen. Will Theo help? Reluctantly, he will, but for a price.

Initially, these early scenes favor a caustic, biting sense of humor before the movie fully gives itself over to the darkness of its story, which is formidable since a good deal of it has overtones of the Nazi Holocaust.

Illegal immigrants, after all, are "hunted down like cockroaches," caged and then shot. All tolerance has been sapped from the world, with Theo just as jaded until it’s revealed to him the reason he’s rushing Kee to the ocean, where she will be met by members of the mysterious Human Project. Kee is eight months pregnant, which is viewed in 2027 as something of a miracle and which has ramifications that complicate this dense, satisfying movie beautifully.

With the birth of Kee’s child imminent, it’s at this point that "Children of Men" becomes a chase film, with the unrelenting war action, the tight bond growing between Theo and Kee, and the terrific supporting cast going a long way in heightening the tension. There’s Michael Caine as Theo’s hippie friend Jasper, whose assistance proves vital to Theo’s mission, as well as Chiwetel Ejiofor as one of Julian’s operatives, who has his own ideas about what should happen to Kee and her child.

Close attention also has been paid to Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography, which leans hard on verite; Cuaron and Alex Rodriguez’ editing, which allows the extended, never-jangling chase scenes to unfold in what feels like real time; and the realistic production design by Jim Clay and Geoffrey Kirkland, which helps to make this hellish sink into dystopia one unforgettable trip, indeed.

Grade: A