Children Of Men review

Children Of Men is a post apocalyptic tale of what could happen if the human race stops reproducing and one man's efforts to change the downward spiral of human civilization. It is based on the 1992 novel by British writer P.D. James. A lot of her books seem to be turned into BBC miniseries. Alfonso Cuaron is one of the new wave of filmmakers from Mexico. He's best known for directing one of the Harry Potter films but has also received acclaim for some of his other films. He also co-wrote the script and co-edited Children Of Men. Several writers received screen credit including the team of Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby. Fergus' directorial debut First Snow should be released in 2007. He's also writing Iron Man.

It's 2027 in London and we learn that women suddenly became infertile in 2009 as the final baby dies in Argentina at age 18. Theo Faron (Clive Owen) stops at a coffee shop before going to his government job. The building is blown up right after he leaves. The local government tries to promote itself as the most civilized city on earth. The sales pitch attracts a lot of immigrants but the atmosphere is more like a concentration camp. Different activist groups blame each other for all the problems and the army is unsuccessful in keeping things under control. Theo goes to his friend Jasper's (Michael Caine) retreat in the woods to escape. He is tricked by activist and former lover Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) to help them transport two women out of England. He discovers that the young woman Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) is eight months pregnant. Theo suggests that they should just reveal to the public that she has a child and they'll leave her alone. But the activists have selfish motives. Theo decides that Kee needs to go to The Human Project to be safe. The rest of the film is a harrowing road trip that includes the birth of Kee's child. And Theo was right. Even the soldiers stopped fighting when they saw the baby.

Alfonso Cuaron's main goal was to shoot Children Of Men in a documentary style. So there is plenty of steadicam footage and a lot of quick cuts in the editing. It helps that cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is an old friend of Cuaron's from Mexico. He worked on Cuaron's breakthrough film Y Tu Mama Tambien. They were looking to show the hopelessness of this society and communicated that very well. Clive Owen is in every scene in the film and delivers a tremendous performance. I've always liked his work. Newcomer Claire-Hope Ashitey is also great in only her second film. The role was originally intended for Emma Watson. Children Of Men isn't an easy film to watch but it is a rewarding film. Universal's trailer really doesn't do it justice so here's a trailer put together by fan Blair Erickson.