Blog Post #3 Children of Men

Children of Men

Director- Alfonso Cuaron

Release Date- January 5, 2007

            The year is 2027 and for the past eighteen years all women are infertile. Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is a cynical bureaucrat living in dystopian London. One day, Theo is approached by his ex-wife, Julian (Julianne Moore), wanting to buy transit papers for a refugee Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey). Theo eventually accepts the offer, but the papers require him to travel as well. On their journey the group is ambushed and Julian is killed. Theo then learns that the refugee Kee is pregnant and that the group (Fishes) protecting her planned the ambush. Theo in the ends gets Kee to the Human Project boat, but dies from a wound suffered earlier.

            This film has found a way to blend two genres, sci-fi and drama, together to make an almost perfect hybrid. To me this film is more drama, but the science-fiction aspect used is the spice that makes the film unique. The Cinematography of this film was astonishing. One aspect in particular has to be the intricate “oners” that Emmanuel Lubezki created. To make a dystopian future work, in my opinion, you must choose your production designer(s) carefully. I believe that Jim Clay and Geoffrey Kirkland were chosen perfectly to craft the decrepit and depressing setting of this film.

            Before viewing Children of Men Alfonso Cuaron was a director I loathed, mainly due to one of his previous directorial efforts (Prisoner of Azkaban). But when the credits began to roll for Children of Men, I had a new admiration for Alfonso and his past transgressions were forgiven. Alfonso’s placing of the plot into a drama /sci-fi genre has created a film that shows a future we may all have to eventually live. By doing this I believe Alfonso has made a film that can grab the attention of most viewers. The most impressive tool that Alfonso used was his cinematographer (Lubezki). When I was initially viewing the film, some of the shots had me speechless with how they were created. One shot in particular that really baffled me at first was the oner used in the car ambush scene. The cinematography of the film was astounding, but without a well-crafted set the scene can still fall short. This, however, did not occur due to brilliant work done by Clay and Kirkland in creating what most would believe a crumbling society to appear as.