Children of Men
Wednesday, January 3, 2007 at 9:01am 2 comments (last by Jamison)
For being together three months now, I think Brian and I have only gone to the movies together twice. A few months ago we saw The Bridge and for New Year's Day yesterday we went to see Children of Men.
And it was good too. We're thrown right into a vision of London in 2027 where the human race has not been able to have children for the last 19 years. With an impending extinction the world is falling apart. We're shown chaos, but filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón wastes little time if any to explain the effect on religion and politics, leaving it for us to connect the dots from what's on screen while the story moves forwards.
By providing as little explanation as possible, this world somehow seems much more realistic. It's like flipping on NPR where news about the latest violence in Iraq does not come with a wrap up of the last 20 years of history. Cuarón does much the same, bringing a stronger sense of immediacy to the entire thing.
What really made me want to see this film in theaters was the trailer. I normally hate going to the movie megaplexes when it seems everything is out on DVD a month later and especially now with theaters going digital the pixilation is worse on the "big screen" than my HDTV. But just last week I caught the full trailer with the Sigur Rós song Hoppípolla as its soundtrack. That's what did it for me.
2 Comments
Jamison Thursday, January 4, 2007 at 1:27pm
Even as we were shown the fortified oasis within London, the smokestacks and dinginess was visibly creeping over the edges.
I can picture from what we were shown a lot of the decisions and events of the last quarter century that led to them. Why spend any time planning for the future when there isn't one? Just washing busses (never mind repairing the small dents) would seem wasteful when ridership is dwindling daily and it likely costs more and more just to keep people doing their job instead of taking Quitus.
Steve Boland Thursday, January 4, 2007 at 1:07pm
My thoughts exactly. Down to the trailer and the Sigur Ros song.
As insanely dystopian as that world was, the attention to detail (someone put some serious thought into how everyday technology will evolve over the next 20 years) made it all too believable. Or at least I hope that's what made it believable, and not the echoes of our current political direction.
Jamison, did you happen to notice how *smoggy* London was, or how tarnished that bus looked in the opening scene? Just one of a hundred little hints that added up to the big picture.