In 2006 Alfonso Cuarón released his best film to date, "Children of Men." You probably know him as the director of "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban" or for his Oscar-winning "Gravity" but if you haven’t seen "Children of Men" you’re really missing out. "Children of Men" is set in the year 2027 in a world where people are no longer fertile and a baby hasn’t been born for 18 years. Clive Owens' character, Theo, is recruited to help escort the first pregnant girl away from the authoritarian government. I would say more but the film’s opening does a better job of describing the tone and context than I ever could.
This is an incredibly dense film when it comes to imagery. Cuarón plants something in every single frame, always seeming to find a way to push his theme even further. It can be as subtle as a woman in the background of a shot crying over her dead son, much like Michelangelo’s famous La Pietà, or as obvious as an inflatable pig flying over London just like the album cover for Pink Floyd’s "Animals." Looking away for the smallest of moments will guarantee you missing something, and watching it again always reveals something new. There is a reason it was nominated for best cinematography. Every frame is a painting.
The film’s cinematography is a double edged sword. Giving us imagery as well as atmosphere. Many shots last longer than 45 seconds and there are two rewind-worthy action sequences which are several minutes long causing you to ask yourself, “How on earth did they do that?” If you’ve seen any of the films where Emmanuel Lubezki is the cinematographer, you know he likes to push the boundaries. "Gravity," "Tree of Life," "The Revenant" and "Birdman" are all totally different, and still visually stunning. He’s a master of his craft and he immerses us into the dystopian future of "Children of Men" perfectly.
The social commentary of "Children of Men" is where it shines most. The evils that plague this future seem all too familiar and that’s what makes it so believable. Britain is the last standing country in this world and yet they block out everyone seeking asylum. We constantly see refugees (or ‘fugees as they’re referred to in the film) being beaten, battered, and abused in the background of shots. They’re blamed for the problems of the world and the scariest part is you’re not surprised to see this. The film nails every aspect of realism when it comes to a world falling apart because of infertility.
Alfonso Cuarón’s "Children of Men" is deeply religious and meaningful. It came out in late December when films like "Blood Diamond," "Charlottes Web," "Night at the Museum" and "Rocky Balboa" were also in theatres so it probably went under your radar, but now you have no excuse.
