Children of Men director Alfonso Cuar’n, who’s made such visually amazing and intriguing films as Y tu mam’ tambi’n and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, this time around tells a haunting and poetic tale of a dystopic future. Based loosely on P.D. James’ 1992 book The Children of Men, the movie adaptation is a bleak, albeit interesting piece of science fiction.
Set in London and various nearby towns, the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki brings out the constant grey look of England. And by using a handheld camera throughout, as well as very little cutting within the film’s major action sequences, Children of Men manages to suspend disbelief and put the audience firmly inside the chaotic and ravaged world of 2027.
It’s a world where women are infertile, and Baby Diego (Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi), the youngest man alive, has just been killed at the age of 18. Nuclear wars and terrorism have destroyed most major metropolitan cities around the world, sending thousands of refugees in to England, one of the last remaining countries. The government has tried to combat this overpopulation by forcing all immigrants to concentration camps. However, the government is in a war with a resistance group known only as the Fishes. Their goal is to fight for equal rights of all immigrants.
Theodore Faron (Owen) is a former activist, now bureaucrat at the Ministry of Energy, who’s trying to get away from all the chaos. When visiting his good friend Jasper Palmer (Caine), a former political cartoonist, he’s told that all will be saved by the Human Project. Formed by the world’s leading scientists, the Human Project has been created to cure the infertility epidemic. Faron doesn’t believe it, and feels that even if it were true it’d be too little, too late.
Later kidnapped by members of the Fishes, Faron finds out that his ex-wife, Julian Taylor (Moore), is still politically active, as she is the head of the organization. She asks Faron to try to get transit papers from his cousin, so that one of the members of the Fishes can get to the coast. He refuses at first, but later acquiesces. All Faron could get is joint transit papers. When Faron finds out that the transit papers were for Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), the only women on Earth who’s pregnant, he begins to realize that he’s in way over his head. He must travel a great distance to have Kee board a ship called Tomorrow. This ship is supposed to take her to the Human Project.
Adding to the realism of this far-out tale is the impeccable production design by Jim Clay and Geoffrey Kirkland. Every scene looks like a believable war-torn future. With blown-up buildings, chicken wire on trains and news footage being broadcast from everywhere, it truly is amazing to see. I was sucked in to this world from the get-go, and never looked back.
Of note is a standout performance from Caine, playing against type (normally Caine plays quite formal characters). The rest of the cast does a remarkable job of serving their own purpose in saving the life of Kee.
The only thing holding this film back for me is its tone, which continued to make me depressed throughout, as there’s very little left to root for as the film progresses. But that’s an individual issue that shouldn’t hold those back who want to see a good film.
