A Suicide Attempt Gone Horribly Wrong..

Last night I saw Children of Men and it was brilliant. Slightly sad, definitely morbid, apocalyptic, and yet somehow uplifting. Not to mention its amazing aesthetic and technical feats. The set design is nothing short of breathtaking, as are the visual effects and cinematography. Especially the cinematography, it blew me away. There was one battle scene, which involved numerous explosions, a healthy does of gunfire, and much running and dodging, that was all managed with about a 5-7 minute tracking shot! (I got too lost in the story to tell you exactly how long). Seriously, Cuaron has put the best to the challenge.

Before I go on, keep these praises in mind: Please, see this film! Do not let my critiques lead you to think I did not enjoy or respect this movie. I loved it! But, as with all films, it is not free of some controversy. What is contained forthwith is simply a mannerly discussion into this film's particular "problematic areas" (as my cinema TAs always say). Plus, I think Michael Caine's performance is pretty much the best thing since sugar-free gum.

In the twenty-four hours that have past since I finished the screening, I have tried to sort out the messages and ideologies presented through the text of the film. My gut reaction was to stand up in the theater and clap my hands raw. But after the initial adrenaline rush was over, I took a more critical look at what was really being said. Truthfully, I still don't know what the point of the film was. Yes, it dealt with some interesting theories and managed to throw in some commentary on modern society, but nothing that I could decipher as being particularly poinient.

Perhaps there was no explicit message relevant to today, but instead it was meant to just explore broader human issues. (i.e. What is the meaning of all this? What are we working towards? Does any of this really matter?) Which are all toyed with while answering the specific question of, What would mankind's response be to the end of the human race? It is, in this way, a somewhat unique film (at least to my knowledge) because most apocalyptic films use an intimate relationship to "sugar-coat the pill", delivering the message as a subtext and using the apocalypse as merely a background. Children of Men instead uses the apocalypse as the foreground to address humanity as a whole. It is not appealing to one specific time or one type of relationship, but all eras and all relationships. Yes, there are blatant references to modern issues of immigration and not-so-subtle comparisons to Nazi Germany, but these are only a part of the broader scheme.

Obviously, I still have some sorting out to do.

Although, I will say, beyond the textual issues of concept I was intrigued by the rather sordid use of race and gender throughout the film. Without giving too much away, I must say that I was a bit unsettled by the subtextual use of gender and race. While, on the one hand, the film stood critical of racial tensions and bigotry, within its characterization it adhered to numerous stereotypes and dominant ideologies. It was, in the way so many films are, inherently and unconsciously hypocritical. I found this particularly interesting, having the knowledge that the director and mastermind behind the film's production is not a white, upperclass, American, male but instead a forthrightly (and proudly) Mexican director. For this reason, I am both disheartened (because of Hollywood's obvious infiltration of foreign artistry) and intrigued by the seemingly contradictory dichotomy.

I also ran across this review by a faithful Ain't It Cool News reader. Check it out: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30159

Please, see this film! It's good.

P.S. Yeah, so as you may have guessed, the title to this entry has nothing to do with this post. Or does it? (no)