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A mass of people crowd into a coffee shop watching a TV news bulletin, which is reporting the death of the youngest person on Earth, who was 18 years old. Theo Faron (Clive Owen) pushes to the front of the crowd to buy a drink. He exits onto the bustling London streets of the year 2027. Seconds after walking out of the coffee shop, an bomb blast explodes from inside it, leaving a scene of chaos in its wake.
All of the above happens in one continuous take, and it is the first shot of the film. It sums up quite effectively precisely what is so great about Children of Men. It doesn't spend much time explaining anything - indeed, there is no reason given as to why the whole of humanity suddenly became infertile - and instead just drops you into this completely convincing depiction of the near future. Although the film would slot into the 'dystopia' sub-genre of science fiction, it is about as far removed as possible from the most famous film in that category, Blade Runner (in one of the DVD featurettes, director Alfonso Cuaron calls it the "anti-Blade Runner"). Whereas that film featured a massively advanced society, albeit a stunningly evoked one, Children of Men presents a world that is futuristic yet recognisable. Cars don't fly around. Buses haven't changed much either, except the adverts on the side of them are now electronically animated. The visuals of the film are amazingly designed, although they are not shoved in your face; you probably wouldn't notice a lot of the CGI unless you were looking. Likewise numerous other elements in the set and costume design add to the experience; one particular touch I liked was that for half of the film Clive Owen wears a faded London 2012 Olympics sweatshirt.
One flaw of the film is that it doesn't have much plot, but it gets away with it because the atmosphere it creates is so compelling. The superb camera work and very long takes make it feel akin to a documentary, putting the audience in the position of the cameraman, and making you feel like you are there in the action yourself (blood even splashes on the lens at one point). Cuaron litters the film with references to topical and historical issues. Muslim extremism, suicide bombings, Guantanamo Bay, the Holocaust, and even the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease are alluded to, and while that may make it sound as fun as a punch in the face, it can be enjoyed simply as a white-knuckle chase movie. Some reviews have even described it as a satirical black comedy.
Once the main crux of the narrative is underway, the film barely pauses to take a breath. As I commented in my cinema review, the last 45 minutes in particular are absolutely brilliant, and is the most gripping piece of cinema I saw for the whole of 2006. It's a shame when it ends, but it does so at the perfect point. At a lean 105 minutes, the film could be longer, and it would possibly benefit from more character development in the earlier parts. Nevertheless, when you find yourself complaining that you want more, it's usually a sign of a good film.
The extras
Although the extras on this 2-disc set are not great, I'm just thankful it was released. The original UK DVD release was all but vanilla and I therefore avoided buying it. Apparently Alfonso Cuaron wasn't pleased with it either, so persuaded Universal to re-release it in a better package. The main part of the bonus material is a half-hour documentary directed by Cuaron called "The Possibility of Hope", and instead of being a standard Making Of it takes a look at the real world issues that the film touches on, like immigration. It's quite thought-provoking but felt a bit like something you'd watch in school. A few other disappointingly short featurettes deal with specific sequences in the film, and it's very interesting to see how some of the shots were pulled off. There are three short deleted scenes included which don't add much and total only two and a half minutes. Generally it's a mediocre selection which takes itself rather seriously and doesn't provide much insight into the actual filmmaking process.
The summary
Children of Men is a superb dystopic sci-fi movie which, if there's any justice, will be remembered amongst the best in the genre in years to come. It's a disappointing DVD, but it's better than nothing.
