Stardate 04-04-2007
Last night I sat down and watched Alfonso Cauron's Children of Men, which was so gripping and intense that at times I lost all sense of self. All of a sudden I would find myself gasping for air, and then realize that for the last 30 seconds or so, I had forgotten to even breath.
This is the best movie that I have seen in a long time. The story is set in the year 2027. Britain and the world are in a state of turmoil and shock because for some strange and unknown reason, women have become infertile. On top of this, the Argentines "bajaron la media cana" and killed the youngest boy in the world, 18 year old Diego, for refusing to sign autographs while vacationing in Buenos Aires.
A rouge group of rebels, pinned as "terrorists" by the British Government, has found a refugee girl who has miraculously become pregnant. The movie follows this group as they try to get her to a group called "The Human Project, " that will protect her and her child. Deceit, betrayal, and murder ensue.
Besides the great story, this movie is amazing for many reasons. First, the camera work is brilliant. The whole movie is filmed by a camera that is carried by hand. This gives the viewer an amazing sense that they are moving around with the characters. Something similar was done in The Bourne Supremacy, but at times, I felt almost too close to the action and could not tell what was going on. These pitfalls do not exist in Children of Men. The second thing that blew me away was the direction. Just about every scene is one long take, and each scene usually involves multiple people doing various different things. Because they are all part of one long scene, the timing and acting would have to be spot on, and it is. Third, the special effects were done so well and seem so realistic that at times I didn't even realize or think that they were using special effects.
I've never been more impressed with the forethought and planning that goes into making movies as I was with Children of Men.
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10 comments:
Great recommendation, I'm adding it to my netflix today! Have you ever seen City of Lost Children? It is a french film about a mad scientist who steals children's dreams. Check it out, I think you'd like it.
Cool! I'm really excited to see this movie. It sounds like it's Cinema Verite (naturalism) to the core.
I've seen Cuaron's "A Little Princess" and "Harry Potter 3", which were both very good. (I read that Cuaron got Daniel Radcliffe (HP) to watch Truffaut movies like "The 400 Blows")
Does Cuaron have a consistent style? I haven't seen his more controversial movies like "Y Tu Mama Tambien," but from the two movies I've seen, and of what I know about his other movies, his movies thematically seem to deal with coming of age. But Children of Men seems very different thematically...
Amber-
You told me about City of Lost Children and I will have to check it out. I'm a bit hesitint because we figured out that the same guy directed the movie about that little girl and the travelling knomes. I watched about half of that one and wanted to kill myself. I'll trust you though and give City of Lost Children a shot.
Cblakes-
I had also heard that Cauron does a lot with coming of age type themes. I remember that when I saw Harry Potter I was blown away by what seemed to be a bit more artistic of a movie, at least compared to the first two HP movies.
I looked on IMDB and it looks like he is directing a movie right now about the student revolts in Mexico back in '68. I dont know anything about the subject, but that my be interesting. It also says that he is in talks for the first Magneto movie.
SMan, I am glad that you finally got to see it. I couldn't agree more with your review. It was scary to see what could happen if the Republicans maintain power. I knew it would get bad, but I had no idea that the Right winged agenda included making our women barren.
Is "bajar la cana," as in "bajaron la media cana," a common spanish term? I thought it was Argentine lunfardo (slang). Did they use that term in the movie itself, or are the quotation marks you used your own?
That was a shout out to you Ian. They do not use it in the movie and they don't use it in Chile. Do they use the word "media" in Argentina? I guess it sort of adds emphasis to whatever you are trying to say.
TJ, thats just what the liberal media would have you believe.
Children of Men was one of my favorite movies from this last year, along with El Labarinto and The Prestige. I wanted to cry when Diego was killed, for those who haven't seen it, Diego was a superstar because he was the youngest human, the world followed his every move.
I'll tellyou what, I loved Michael Cain's character, even more than his role in Mr. Baseball.
Spencer, you're a good writer. You make movies I normally wouldn't be interested in sound interesting.
Gee, Spencer. I didn't know they had a Tower Theater in St George
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