Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men

I finally saw Cuaron's Children of Men last night and wow is it good. Its arguably the best dystopia film ever made. It might be a struggle for many people to find, but seriously this Is a film not to be missed.

Based on the Novel by author P.D. James(Which supposedly Cuaron had not read when making the film) tells the story of a world destroyed because women have suddenly become infertile. Theo(Clive Owen) a downtrodden ex-activist agrees to help a group of terrorists escort a young girl Kee(Claire-Hope Ashitey) to the fabled saviors of mankind the human project.

The first and most striking of this films qualities is its incredible cinematography. Cuaron has always had great visuals(Y tu mama tambien) , but seriously in this film its just off the charts. This film has the best use of the long shot I have seen since Scorsese's Goodfellas. Plenty of directors use the long shot and its almost always cool, but this time it also gives an added layer of tension as we watch dramatic and sometimes shocking events unfold in real time.

Beyond the visuals(which many people will latch on too) the film is made with such a beautifully restrained manner. The vision of the future is definitive and descriptive but never even thinks of approaching something that would feel like fantasy. Bad CG effects never rear there ugly head and nothing is ever so elaborate to detract from the story at hand but it is also true to the Sci Fi genre. The characterizations which could have come off cliche never reach that plateau. The best example is the clearly going to be redemptive character of Clive Owen. As he drinks and smokes and generally looks like a bum you can feel the epiphanic 'there is something worth fighting' for scene coming. But it never does, instead this film lets lets the change come about naturally, and never becomes cliche.

Cuaron is fighting to be a modern day Kubrick with all of his genre hopping, and with Children of Men he takes another step in that direction. This is the kind of film that everyone is going to want to get Oscars but won't. This film is a masterpiece of stylish and poignant direction that should not be missed by anyone.

5/5 "A new watermark for dystopia films"