Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Children of men.

I highly recommend Children of Men. Though it is Sci-fi, it is very realistic and a lot closer to us than any 70's tripped out future. Throughout it is filled with a grittiness and natural dialogue that it is pretty much believable. It is incredibly atmospheric, though the atmosphere of 'that' future is gray and depressing. It is moving where it needs to be, yet it doesn't milk it like plenty other films.
It has some fantastic touches of irony. A scene in Battersea power station, overlooking from a window and they have hung an inflatable pig like in the cover of 'Animals'. Great pieces of art that have been looted from other countries. The brutality of sincerity when a politician asked how he can cope with humanity dying and the simple reply 'I just don't think about it'. At the same time the simple yet challenging feat for Hollywood to have British actors playing British characters and Americans playing American.
The soundtrack is covered of what one would love to think will be classics by 2027 like Roots Manuva 'Witness' and what I believed to be Aphex Twin in a scene with Michael Caine and Clive Owen.
It didn't feel as if were trying too hard at any moment. The flow is quite natural and it is brave enough to follow for an appropriate ending rather than a full blown Hollywood cliche.
Overall a great movie about the end of the world yet not in the usual apocalyptic manner. The simple yet tragic realisation of humanity simply dying out. But like in most movies or stories there is hope. Hope doesn't arrive like a full blown rescue operation but as a desperate possibility within reach. People fighting to be the ones to show what could save us all. In true human nature, we would trample over anyone in order to save the day.
It is a movie that leaves something in you. It is not a feel good movie, it is not a movie it is cinema.

1 comment:

Chris Jones said...

Gotta disagree with you on this one amigo! I got terribly bogged down in the frankly weak plotline. I always wonder why 'literary' authors attempt SF. They nearly always end up by doing gloomy dystopian stuff (cf: Margaret Atwood, Handmaid's Tale etc). Mind you, it did LOOK nice, and it was a helluva lot better than the truly pants Black Dahlia...;-)