Children of Men

If there's one thing that eternally ticks me off in this life of film-watching, it's people who are ready to write off perfectly good films just because they're science-fiction. In 2006, Children of Men was one such film - managing to attract only one Oscar nomination (for Adapted Screenplay). As a result, there are probably stacks of people out there who will never watch this film... and that's a sad state of affairs as this is one of the best films of the last decade.

The year is 2027 and the human race has been infertile for 18 years... nearly every country bar Britain is in ruin, and England has kept it's borders shut to refugees for 8 years now. The human race appears to be doomed and Britain exists under a climate of fear induced by a severe right-wing government and random terrorist attacks. These terrorists are known as the Fishes, and they seek equality between British citizens and immigrants. Theo (Clive Owen) is a disaffected, faithless bureaucrat and one-time political activist who finds himself drawn into a secretive Fishes plot by his former wife Julian (Julianne Moore)... it transpires that they have a pregnant refugee named Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) amongst them and they need Theo to escort her to safety. Only it doesn't turn out to be that simple... certain elements of the Fishes want to use Kee for political purposes. Meanwhile the armed forces are closing in on the Fishes, and a refugee uprising also seems to be on the cards.

In our increasingly neo-conservative western world it seems a film like this is all too timely, adding itself to the ranks of more recent dystopian literary works like The Handmaid's Tale and Underground . Using a novel by crime novelist P.D. James as his source material, Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron creates a gritty and highly believable vision of London twenty years from now, a frightening glimpse at an infertile and impotent human race struggling for hope in a climate of hatred and fear. Clive Owen lends his magnetic screen presence to the role of Theo... and Cuaron was so impressed with Owen's contribution that he took him on as a co-writer for the film rather early on in the project. Michael Caine, Julianne Moore and the underrated Chiwetel Ejiofor all lend their exceptionable talents to the proceedings as well, with Michael Caine particularly memorable as Theo's friend Jasper, a political cartoonist-turned-drug-dealing hippy.

Anyway, this isn't just your stock-standard cautionary science-fiction tale... it also happens to a heart-stopping piece of action-packed and envelope-pushing cinema. Some of the special effects are so seamless that you barely even notice they're special effects, and Cuaron's direction is astounding. Some of the action sequences, including one amazing and continuous tracking shot from inside a car, are breathtaking in their audacity. The uprising in the ghetto during the film's last third is also just as impressive. It's a frighteningly real and visceral experience and I think it would be a rather duff film fan who watches this and doesn't find it in the least bit exciting. It's brilliant film that combines the best of cinematic innovation with socially-conscious science fiction. The ending is powerful and I cried (but, to be fair, I cry in almost every film I watch). It has a great soundtrack too. Go see it!