What would happen if twenty years from today humans found themselves unable to procreate? If the events of Children of Men, the latest feature from director Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mamá También) turn out to be real, you might want to start hording disaster supplies right now-you're going to need them.
An adventure story that seems to take place mere days before the apocalypse (all hell has already broken loose in England, and it appears that all other countries have already self-destructed in one way or another), Men follows Theodore Faron (Clive Owen), as he escorts a very special member of society towards the coast of Britain, shuttling the individual towards a meeting with a group known only as "The Human Project." To divulge any more of the plot would be to take away the film's power, but suffice to say that Cuarón's work manages to pack quite a punch, reflecting the fears of today and the rampant destructive possibility of the future.
Owen and co-stars Michael Caine and Julianne Moore all turn in fine performances-Caine in particular as Owen's hippie mentor-but Children of Men is all about the world that Cuarón, production designer Jim Clay and director of cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki create on screen.
They render a futuristic London that differs from modern London only in small details-plasma televisions are everywhere, cars all resemble hybrids, dirt and grime cover more territory than ever before. But the finest work comes as the story moves towards the British coast, where the filmmakers have built one of the most magnificent sets in new millenium cinema-the seaside town Theo and the traveller he escorts travel to resembles an internment camp of the future-groups separated by religious sect, violence conquering all. The culminating action sequence is one of the most impressive things put on screen this year.
Lubezki deserved the Oscar for his work on Terrence Malick's The New World in 2005; in 2006, he cannot be denied for Children of Men. His work is by far the greatest achievement in cinematography this year and one of the largest breakthroughs in photography since the D-Day landing scenes of Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. His work alone would make Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men a hypnotic piece of filmmaking; with everything else it has going for it, it's looking at Oscar nominations.
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