Children of Men 5/5 reviewed by Corey
"This is an extraordinary artistic breakthrough from a Mexican director who was already fearlessly good to begin with." - Boston Globe
"[Children of Men] offers inventive energy, ferocious intelligence, and yet, affirmation of life against the most calamitous circumstances." -Newsday
"The most deeply imagined and fully realized world to be seen on screen this year, not to mention bravura sequences that bring to mind names like Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick." -Washington Post
"[Children of Men] is a gratifying sign that big studios are still occasionally in the business of making ambitious, intelligent work that speaks to adults." -New York Times
--
I can't get the pictures to work...
I had the privilege of seeing Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men this morning at 10:30 at Cinemark at Legacy and can say, without any shadow of a doubt, that this is one of the best films that I have ever seen.
I'll keep this relatively short, because my point is really quite simple. The film is set in England in the year 2027. Through means unknown, women are no longer fertile. Chaos runs rampant. Theodore Faron, an ex-activist, is asked a favor for a friend and, upon deliverance, stumbles upon a most unbelievable circumstance: a young woman is about to give birth to the first child in eighteen years. If she can make it to the coast, she may have a chance to get the baby to safety and humanity may be able to start anew.
The film is gripping and wildly imaginative. I sat there trying to take everything in and probably missed half of it. It's simultaneously beautiful and ugly, awe-inspiring and disgusting. It's violent and gorgeous. It's apocalyptic and epic in the same vein as 28 Days Later.
Sci-fi fans and anyone who liked 12 Monkeys, Blade Runner, Brazil and V For Vendetta (Hankins, I'm freakin' talkin' to you here.) will eat this thing up. It's got a political sense to it and a sting of social commentary.
Try not to laugh when you hear the "My cousin. Your barber. His co-worker. Illegal immigration. It's against the law." advertisement on the bus. Pink Floyd fans, watch for the Animals album art reference. Laugh at the "Pull my finger" joke in the car. Soak it all in.
The direction is stunning: a particular 10-minute steadycam shot in the middle of a warzone, done in one take, stands out as one of the best sections of any movie I've seen. Clive Owen (Inside Man, Sin City) turns in the performance of his life as, first, a reluctant tag-along, then a decidedly protective hero. Michael Caine (Batman Begins, The Prestige) is hilarious and touching as an old hippy.
The film has a huge heart and is often laugh-out-loud funny. The script is tight and well-written. The score, particularly during the warzone and birth sequences, is spot-on. I could go on and on and on...
Mike Hankins, go watch it now.
SEE this movie if...
-You want to see a movie.
DONT see this movie if...
-...
"[Children of Men] offers inventive energy, ferocious intelligence, and yet, affirmation of life against the most calamitous circumstances." -Newsday
"The most deeply imagined and fully realized world to be seen on screen this year, not to mention bravura sequences that bring to mind names like Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick." -Washington Post
"[Children of Men] is a gratifying sign that big studios are still occasionally in the business of making ambitious, intelligent work that speaks to adults." -New York Times
--
I can't get the pictures to work...
I had the privilege of seeing Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men this morning at 10:30 at Cinemark at Legacy and can say, without any shadow of a doubt, that this is one of the best films that I have ever seen.
I'll keep this relatively short, because my point is really quite simple. The film is set in England in the year 2027. Through means unknown, women are no longer fertile. Chaos runs rampant. Theodore Faron, an ex-activist, is asked a favor for a friend and, upon deliverance, stumbles upon a most unbelievable circumstance: a young woman is about to give birth to the first child in eighteen years. If she can make it to the coast, she may have a chance to get the baby to safety and humanity may be able to start anew.
The film is gripping and wildly imaginative. I sat there trying to take everything in and probably missed half of it. It's simultaneously beautiful and ugly, awe-inspiring and disgusting. It's violent and gorgeous. It's apocalyptic and epic in the same vein as 28 Days Later.
Sci-fi fans and anyone who liked 12 Monkeys, Blade Runner, Brazil and V For Vendetta (Hankins, I'm freakin' talkin' to you here.) will eat this thing up. It's got a political sense to it and a sting of social commentary.
Try not to laugh when you hear the "My cousin. Your barber. His co-worker. Illegal immigration. It's against the law." advertisement on the bus. Pink Floyd fans, watch for the Animals album art reference. Laugh at the "Pull my finger" joke in the car. Soak it all in.
The direction is stunning: a particular 10-minute steadycam shot in the middle of a warzone, done in one take, stands out as one of the best sections of any movie I've seen. Clive Owen (Inside Man, Sin City) turns in the performance of his life as, first, a reluctant tag-along, then a decidedly protective hero. Michael Caine (Batman Begins, The Prestige) is hilarious and touching as an old hippy.
The film has a huge heart and is often laugh-out-loud funny. The script is tight and well-written. The score, particularly during the warzone and birth sequences, is spot-on. I could go on and on and on...
Mike Hankins, go watch it now.
SEE this movie if...
-You want to see a movie.
DONT see this movie if...
-...
posted by Anonymous at 10:38 AM
2 Comments:
Looks like my weekend plans are set... I'll check back in with my 2 cents shortly...
After seeing this, I needed a few days to kindof process it before I could accurately write about it. Suffice to say, I totally agree with Corey's scoring and his review. So I'll add my thoughts:
Technically, the movie is incredible. It's masterfully shot in the documentary style thats even more agressive than other things shot in that style. If you hate hand-held, "shaky" camera stuff, be warned, although it's not anywhere near as bad as something like Bourne Supremacy--because although its a shaky camera, its not overly so, and theres not a lot of fast cutting. Rather, the camera will hold out for long takes, but look around furiously trying to capture all the action. I loved the cinematic style and it really made you feel like you were there, and experiencing everything the characters were experiencing.
The characters are great too, and wonderfully acted. Clive Owen proves that he is more capable an actor than we ever thought, and that says a lot. His portrayal of Theo is touching and filled nuance. As is Michael Caine's performance (duh.) and of course, Chewitel Eijifor does an excellent job as always. With how good the acting was, and how well shot it was, I never felt I was watching a movie. This is probably the best job of "world immersion" that I've ever seen in a film. I was completely transfixed.
The music choices really grabbed me, too. Most crucial scenes have no music at all, which incredibly highlights the tension. There's one escape scene that was shot in the early morning light, with no music, but is still one of the most tense scenes in the movie. Other music choices highlight the themes being discussed, certain Pink floyd, Beatles and other songs (which aren't just tracks put on the movie--rather, the characters are listening to them too, and we hear it as they do) down to a classical piece chosen that directly relates to whats happening in the story in ways that only someone who has studied classical will recognize.
Of course Corey has already mentioned the incredible and genius attention to detail--every tiny element of the background (both visually and audibly) contribues to the world in powerful ways. Seeing the ads for suicide kits as if they were sinus pills was particularly telling. and of course, the story itself is moving, and says a lot about human nature, our choices, etc. Lots of themes are touched upon, but never does it feel like propoganda. Rather, the film raises more questions than it answers, but in a good way--a way that really makes you think about issues you hadn't cared about before.
There are only 2 flaws in the film. One is Julanne Moore. She does to this film what Katie Holmes did to Batman Begins: tried really hard to destroy it, but it was saved by the actors around her and the great director. She nearly kills every scene she's in and really takes you out of the story and reminds you--oh yeah, this is a movie with actors... dangit... she may be a redhead, but she sucks at acting. Luckily, shes not a major character and isn't in a whole lot of scenes. The other flaw is a minor plot problem. The whole time, they are trying to get to a mysterious place called "The Human Project" but you never know what this is or why it's important. There's enough hints given to where it's not a huge problem, but I think an additional line or two of expository dialouge would really have cemented the importance of the Human Project and really made me care more about getting there.
To sum up, this is easily one of the best films of the year, but it's not for the squeamish. The images here are powerful and gut-wrenching. There are scenes that resemble prison camp videos, there are scenes of incredible violence, and of humans being completely corrupt and just plain evil. While this film isn't for everybody, if you can stomach it, its a very important, not to mention incredible, film.
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