Thursday, November 22, 2007
Children of Men
Children of Men is one of the most grounded science fiction films I've ever seen. Science fiction always has a tendency to predict revolutionary technological leaps far and above our own - in the latest Planet of the Apes, we have military training space stations in orbit around the gas giants, and in Blade Runner, we have mile high skyscrapers, androids and flying cars, and all before 2030. Children of Men, however, keeps the technology level pretty consistent with today, which makes the story and its themes all the more accessible to today's audiences, because it is all too comfortably familiar.The film is taut and thrilling, with some amazing camera work that adds to the suspense. The director makes extensive use of long takes that follow the characters, and the lack of breaks in editing add to the tension (there's one sequence in the middle of the film using a car that is unlike anything I've seen in film before).
Children of Men hits all the right notes and is an excellent film that I'd recommend to everyone. I'd less recommend the documentary that accompanies the film on DVD, in which professors from around the world only briefly touch on the themes of the film, but instead paint a dismal, weary world view. Although some of the points they make are salient, they don't really offer practical solutions, so it all comes off as nihilistic.
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