Review Children of Men by Pooyan Sadeghi
In Alfonso Cuarón's recent movie "Children of Men" we see a brilliant portrait of a world in which the concept of 'human' is brought to the front of our imagination. Alfonso Cuarón has previously introduced his touch for human emotions and behavior with "Y tu mamá también." In this new film, we are introduced to a dystopic nearby future in which, for unknown reasons, humanity has borne its last child 18 years ago.
With the population aging, and no new births, there is a pervasive sense of gloom. We follow the movie's plot along with Theo Faron, played by Clive Owen from Frank Miller's Sin City, and his struggle to find meaning and beauty in the midst of desolation. The focus of the movie is on transporting a young mother-to-be to the safety of a fabled group of scientists, artists and doctors who have established a haven of peace and progress known as "The Human Project." The highlight of the movie, and I won't spoil anything here, was craftily placed and to me deeply moving. The pace of the movie although seemingly slow at first, has an organic feel to it such that it builds momentum to a point where mass and gravity of events unfolding become tangible. The only thing that detracted from the movie for me was the acting of Claire-Hope Ashitey who played Kee, the young pregnant woman. She had a barking manner of delivering her lines that took away from many of the scenes. Luckily, in the scene that counts, like all truly human moments, no words are necessary.
There is something deeply troubling our world. I think many people admit this. Perhaps we have lost something along the way – something that we were supposed to remember but forgot. For a brief period after watching this movie, I felt like I remembered. But the mind-numbing world in front of me caught up soon enough. If you want to remember what value the children of men have to you, then watch "Children of Men," and hopefully you will have an old piece of yourself back.