Children of Men
Films about a fascist Britain are nothing new. However, where V for Vendetta was a bludgeon, Children of Men is a scalpel. It is an extremely violent film, the acts coming with neither warning nor celebration; a bleak comment on race relations, globalization, media, surveillance and xenophobia. In contrast with the film’s gray palette, every scene is saturated with detail: photographs, signs, advertisements, sideband messages reminiscent of the Bolex Brothers’ Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb or Graeme Base’s earlier children’s books. Like the latter, filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón makes clear his contempt for the current war in Iraq, the hypocrisy of western drug policy and immigration law. Children of Men is not only the best film made in 2006, it is probably the best near future science fiction film made in the past 30 years.
Comments
My boyfriend asked as we were leaving if he'd missed when New York was explained. Even if we both just missed it, the characters reacted to "New York" like someone said "9/11". I appreciate that we were treated like adults without having to have every dot connected for us on screen.
(there is that bit about pot being illegal, but you just know that character would be saying that if he were real)