Twenty more years -- apparently that's all it will take for humanity to reach the apex of its demise. In only double the lifetime of most of the student body at Penn State, mankind will lose the ability to reproduce and a nuclear holocaust will ravage the earth. Pretty bleak isn't it?
But in the present, there is hope. This hope is in the context that this dreary reality of the future makes for a moving backdrop for Children of Men, Alfonso Cuarón's (Y tu mamá también) film adaptation of P.D. James' post-apocalyptic novel.
So you're asking yourself how does such a negative outlook offer entertainment, more importantly why would I want to see this? Here are a few reasons that if can influence just one person to see this movie instead of current box office king Stomp the Yard, I'll have done my job in spreading appreciation for a worthy piece of art:
1) Clive Owen as Theo Faron is a cynical, apathetic 40-something in the year 2027. This means he represents our age demographic. A good portion of this age group contains college students who despite their liberal mindset, refuse to break out of apathy unless a huge task is brought upon them. Even when they are immersed within their mission for saving their future, they still doubt the affect they can have on the world.
Now, granted Faron's task in the film truly has all the meaning in the world. His role in the future is making sure the only pregnant woman on earth is kept alive and safe from her child being used as symbol of a revolutionary political upheaval. However, the film drives a point that we all have a part in making a future. Even if we don't make it out alive, our actions will continue to influence how the world will pan out.
2) Michael Caine steals the show. Even in his old age, he has been a consistently fantastic actor. His recent roles in movies such as Batman Begins and The Prestige which also had the air of been scene-stealing voices of reason laced with a spot of comic relief pale in comparison to his role as Jasper Palmer in Children of Men.
He can be reassuring that there is always hope for tomorrow, but hell, while we're here let's have some fun. Jasper is for lack of a better term a hippie. He grows new strains of futuristic marijuana in house and keeps his natty long hair despite it having grayed. He flips a finger to the ominous authority, but despite his liberal appearance he doesn't base his opinion in delusional fanaticism. Jasper's level head in his incidental involvement in the main plot is what influences Theo to carry out his mission.
3) Alfonso Cuarón is a true artist. In a day when shock value has bastardized suspense, Cuarón plunges you into this paranoid and dreadful world right from the start but never lets you get comfortable. Time and time again in this film you will have your mouth agape with astonishment at the realism contained within the depictions of war, death and an overall depressive outlook on the future. It's almost as if you wouldn't be surprised to see the world in this state 20 years from now.
One of the more memorable scenes is the film is a single-take handheld camera shot that takes us through one of the most realistically gritty war zones ever committed to film. I'm talking Saving Private Ryan-level, people. This scene lasts for roughly eight or so minutes. The use of one take is huge subconscious symbol that we only get one try at life. We don't get to re-shoot scenes that we flubbed a line. It's now or never, and we need to take a firm grasp on our own personal realities and how they affect the world at large. GRADE: A+
