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There is a sadness that permeates the consciousness of modern man. It is at once ubiquitous and hyper-located. You know it's in your heart, but your heart seems to come from everywhere. That is the sadness that is reflected in Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.

Oddly, though the premise of the film is set squarely in the realm of science fiction, there is a real emotional relevance to the film that cannot be ignored. We are, in our current state of history, aware, perhaps for the first time, that we humans could be responsible for our own demise. This is the question on the hearts and minds of all the players in Children of Men; have they been responsible for their current state of affairs?

The Psalmist predicts the punishment incurred by the world of Children of Men: "Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men" (21:10).

Babies are no longer being born. The human race is slowly being erased from the face of the earth, and society's structure is disappearing with it. It is in this context of chaos that the character studies of Children of Men are allowed their existence and adventures.

The themes of terrorism and hatred are chords that resound loudly in this work. The audience can't miss the obvious visual reference to images that have their origins in the most recent Iraq war (hooded man from Abu Ghraib) and references to "Fugees" or refugees as second-class citizens point glaringly at the future of contemporary world attitudes.

Religion is also a common motif with references to the nativity (bordering on the blasphemous) dispersed amongst images of marching non-specific jihadists (bordering on offensive to Islam), and chanting Buddhists. The film itself ends (after the credits) with a reprise of the mantra for peace invoked by the characters (Shanti, shanti, shanti). But one is often left with a deepened sense of question regarding the presence of God in the lives of the characters of this film.

Though it is unclear why these circumstances have evolved (infertility pandemic), it is clear that many have attributed it to God's hand; yet hope that God will intervene on the behalf of these characters and their cause is not directly shown, and the ending certainly could be seen to leave the viewer in a state of questioning rather than of confirmed faith in the prospect of hope for peace in general. This sense of having to face danger alone is echoed in the camera choices and pacing of the action.

This film has promoted itself as a new Blade Runner. More akin to Pink Floyd's The Wall or Saving Private Ryan than Blade Runner, Children of Men pushes its audience to the boundaries of the suspension of disbelief by combining character, place, and product names that border on allegorical ("Theo" is the main character's name; "Tomorrow" is the name of the boat they try to reach) with a photographic realism that is but touched gently by the nuances of futurism in its representations of technology and culture.

Marked by astoundingly long-tracking shots that leave the audience exhausted from the lack of edits, the film has a visual pacing that is swift and unencumbered by cinematographic formalities. There is even a scene where the lens is splattered by a stunt blood pack and the camera keeps rolling, following Theo in his dire pursuits, and it works, perhaps because it no longer seems surreal in our culture to have a camera following action during war.

Even though what the audience often sees hints at the surreal (the flying pig, lunch beneath Guernica), the surrealistic nature of the film's futurism never quite leaves the realm of the possible, which only adds to its emotional relevance. In this way, the performances feature heavily and have the formidability to stand astride the many gripping action sequences and subtle but powerful special effects.

Both Clive Owen and Julianne Moore turn in spectacular performances. This is not surprising from Moore, who seems to me to commit fully to every performance she gives, no matter how small. The level of on-screen commitment by Owen also exceeds expectations, though not as much as the performance by one of America's favorite English actors to cast as a stereotype of some typical English character (butler, schoolmaster, etc.), Michael Caine. It has been years since we have seen such nuance to a performance by Caine, who seems recently to live off of playing a caricature of his earlier characters. It is refreshing to see him stretch his acting muscles and to again see a living character on screen, and not just Michael Caine.

All in all, a stunning and admirable effort with marvelous performances and groundbreaking cinematography from a director whose previous credits include the indie hit Y tu Mama Tambien and the franchise installment Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Alfonso Cuaron is here to stay, and Children of Men will probably influence nearly as many filmmakers yet to be born as Blade Runner_ so long as our potential for destroying ourselves as a species remains unfulfilled.

Douglas Lee Miller  February 22, 2007