Dystopian films are nothing new to cinema yet in today's world, it feels like a sense of dystopia. In 1992, a novel by P.D. James called The Children of Men tells the story of a futuristic, depopulated Britain where women are suddenly losing the ability to become pregnant as a man tries to save a pregnant woman hoping to save the existence of mankind. The novel has brought great interest to Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, whose film work including A Little Princess, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, who has been looking for a project that isn't like anything he's done with other films. The project was something Cuaron had been looking to do but knows he needed clout and funding in which his acclaim for films like Y Tu Mama Tambien gave him the chance to direct the third Harry Potter film, which has been regarded as the best one so far. Now, after years of development and preparation, Alfonso Cuaron brings dystopia to a new world with his film version of Children of Men.

Directed by Cuaron with a script co-written with Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby, Children of Men tells the story of a man trying to save mankind's extinction in 2027 England where he tries to save the life a young, pregnant woman with the help of scientists and radicals. A mediation on dystopia and totalitarian worlds, Cuaron brings a unique vision that marks a departure from all of his previous work. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Charlie Hunnam, Claire-Hope Ash*tey, Pam Ferris, Peter Mullan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Danny Huston. Children of Men is a brilliant, harrowing masterpiece from Alfonso Cuaron.

With the death of an 18-year old boy named Diego (Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi) in 2027, he was known as the youngest person to live on earth and the last one to be born after a mysterious epidemic that cause infertility to rise in which, no babies have been born since 2009. The world has erupted into total chaos as Britain remains the only country to do anything with a growing group of immigrants and anarchists in the world despite that Britain has become a totalitarian state. Living in these times is a man named Theo (Clive Owen) who works in London though he often goes into the unsecured countryside to meet an old, eccentric scientist named Jasper (Michael Caine) who lives with his dying, mute wife Janice (Philippa Urquhart). Theo still mourns the fact that is his own son died very young several years ago in which, his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) has left him.

Then one day, Theo gets kidnapped by a group of radicals where he realize that they're led by Julian and her cohorts Luke (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Patric (Charlie Hunnam). Julian asks Theo for some transfer papers she need for someone to get around the camps where immigrants are placed. Since Theo was a former activist, he decides to ask his cousin and government official Nigel (Danny Huston) for help as Nigel tells him that the future is looking far bleaker with the government now being overwhelmed with the growing state of immigrants and anarchists. Theo gets a different kind of transfer paper in which he has to accompany the person that turns out to be a young woman named Kee (Claire-Hope Ash*tey). With Julian, Luke, and a midwife named Miriam (Pam Ferris), Theo is taken on a trip in hoping to reach the seas for the mythical ship of tomorrow where a group of scientists are trying to find the thing in that would end infertility.

On their way, an incident happens as Luke returns his entourage to a remote farm in the countryside where Theo learns that Kee is pregnant with a child. With Luke taking over the group, the future of Kee and where her baby should be is decided that she should stay in order to not risk encounter a group of anarchists, police, and the government. When Theo learns of what's really going on in the hands of Luke and Patric, he takes Kee and Miriam away from the farm as he decides to hide them with Jasper. Jasper believes that there is a ship called Tomorrow that is the project to save Kee and her child. With Theo ready to go to sea, Miriam and Kee go aboard as Jasper chooses to stay home as Luke, Patric, and their cohorts are trying to find them. Theo, Miriam, and Kee make their escape where Miriam reveals her history as a midwife in which she saw how infertility began to rise. During their stop at an abandoned school, they meet their contact in Syd (Peter Mullan) as he sends them to the immigrant camps where Kee is suddenly feeling contractions.

During a stop to the camp, things become troubling as Kee and Theo make their way to the poor, decaying ghettos of Britain as they meet a gypsy named Marichka (Oana Pellea) as Theo learns that he and Kee are fugitives over the death of two cops caused by Luke. With trouble brewing between radicals and the government, Theo and Kee must find a way to get to the boat while evading those that are trying to find them.

Though dystopian ideals is nothing new, the idea of a world in a state of chaos itself due to the fact that there's no future is still something that is scary. What Alfonso Cuaron and his writers bring is the idea that a world where no children is going to come to save mankind as the world is on the brink of collapse as hope finally arrives. Yet, the film's themes of dystopia is really the background in which the film is about a man's revitalized activism takes hold as he tries to save a young woman in having her child that could save the world from the government and those with political motives against the government. The result is truly an intense, harrowing film that Cuaron brings. While the script is filled with provocative tales of science, humanity, and politics, its his direction that brings weight to the film's themes and images.

While Cuaron does add a little bit of humor in terms of dialogue and a few references (including one for fans of Pink Floyd), he still maintains the idea of Britain in a bleak state where the world is in chaos. Some of the film's intense scenes are shot with hand-held cameras with little moments of sunshine to reveal the brief, serene peace of Britain with most of it still shivering with its grey, morose look. Cuaron also doesn't sugarcoat the brutality of totalitarian Britain where officers will kill people, immigrants or not, depending on what's going on as citizens are being watched left and right. The drama and development of characters are true to the situation they're in as it's really Theo's story and how he tries to do right despite his own flaws and idealism. There's even a moment that amidst the brutality in one of the film's fighting, battle sequences where a moment of peace and realism occur into how absurd everything is and it is brief. It is there where in Cuaron's direction, that the film has a moment that can't be replicated into any other film and it's truly an idea that can be felt among its audience.

Helping Cuaron in his visual presentation is his longtime cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Fresh off from shooting Terrence Malick's 2005 masterpiece, The New World, Cuaron goes from the beauty of Malick's historical revision of 17th Century Virginia to the bleak futurism of Britain in the 21st Century. Lubezki's lighting and grey vision really adds nuance and atmosphere to every frame where in the interior settings, he brings little amounts of artificiality to bring a realism while his exterior shots are exquisite. To the brief moments of sun to the shade of green and grey in other sequences that reveals Britain in a new light where it's not tinted or given any kind of style. It looks and feels real as Lubezki will finally receive the recognition after being robbed last year for not getting the Oscar for The New World.

Production designers Jim Clay and Geoffrey Kirkland along with visual effects supervisors Frazer Churchill and Timothy Webber did amazing work in recreating futuristic London and Britain with graffiti on the walls plus buildings and bridges that are created by some visual effects to convey the sense of decay of the future. Costume designer Jany Temime also does great work in the costumes of its cast where there's no flashy, bright clothing as everything looks contemporary and dark. Cuaron and editor Alex Rodriguez do some excellent work in the editing in bringing a nice, rhythmic pace to the film's intense scenes while bringing some long shots to convey the action where no cuts were involved. Sound designer Richard Beggs does amazing work in the sound with his sound mixes of battle scenes and screaming along with moments of serenity to convey the atmosphere. Beggs work in this along with Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette are the highlights in the year of sound for film.

The film's score is largely ambient and operatic from composer John Tavener that adds the sense of melancholia and drabness of the world while the film's soundtrack is wonderfully diverse. With cuts by Radiohead, King Crimson, John Lennon, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, the Libertines, Roots Manuva, Aphex Twin, Digital Mystikz, and a great cover of the Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday by Franco Battiato. The soundtrack adds punch to the film's political feel as it's provided in the scenes with Michael Caine who is a hippie with some great taste in music. It's truly one of the year's best soundtracks.

The film's cast is wonderfully assembled with small performances by Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi, Philippa Urquhart, Oana Paella, and Paul Sharma as Ian, a cohort of Luke's. Charlie Hunnam is pretty funny as the psychotic Patric while Danny Huston gives an excellent performance in the one scene he has with Clive Owen. Peter Mullan brings a comical performance as the corrupt cop Syd who has some hilarious one-liners as a man who helps Theo despite his own motives. Pam Ferris of Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban fame is very impressive as the midwife Miriam whose knowledge of births and history of the infertility epidemic is important to the plot as Ferris is amazing while sporting cool dreadlocks. Julianne Moore is good in her role as Theo's ex-wife Julian who hopes to reconnect with Theo as Moore brings realism and drive to her character who helps revitalize Theo's activism. Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent as radical Luke who isn't a total villain but whose political motives make him a complex character who wants to do the right thing but is addled with the idea of no future as he's a character who is forced to make sacrifices for his own reasons.

Michael Caine is brilliant as the eccentric, witty hippie-scientist Jasper who always brings a "pull-my-finger" joke whenever the film needed it. Caine brings a wonderful sense of humor and warmth to the film as he's the man who acts like a father figure to Owen's Theo character. Claire-Hope Ash*tey is amazing in her performance as Kee, the young woman who is aware of her role as she tries to maintain her pride while knowing that she doesn't trust anyone other than Miriam and Theo. Ash*tey is really the film's most breakthrough performance. Finally, there's Clive Owen in another magnificent performance. Owen really shows his depth as a man on the brink of acceptance of his own disillusioned role when he's thrust back into the world of activism. Owen really adds a bit of humor and heart to the character as he becomes an unlikely father figure to Ash*tey in which, they have great chemistry together. If there's anyone, aside from Ash*tey, that is the highpoint of the cast, it's Clive Owen.

While it's nowhere near the brilliance of Y Tu Mama Tambien or as entertaining as Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men is still a sprawling, intense, and harrowing masterpiece from Alfonso Cuaron. With a great cast led by Clive Owen, Claire-Hope Ash*tey, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Pam Ferris, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and a great crew led by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. This is truly one of 2006's best films as Cuaron continues to delve into different film genres and such. Along with fellow Mexican auteur Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel, Cuaron brings a unique vision to the world and how messed up it is whether it's in the present or in the future. In the end, Children of Men is a film that must not be missed by those who love dystopian imagery.

Alfonso Cuaron Reviews:

Solo con Tu Pareja (1991):

http://www.epinions.com/content_377100013188

A Little Princess (1995):

http://www.epinions.com/content_147047091844

Great Expectations (1998):

http://www.epinions.com/content_140014161540

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001):

http://www.epinions.com/content_118471757444

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004):

http://www.epinions.com/content_142702710404


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age