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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
An utterly uncompromising, unrelenting, unparalleled vision of a dark future in which, without the promise of and responsibility toward a new generation, humanity goes totally off-kilter.
But you know, I need take part of that back.
There are times when Children of Men relents, and they stand out like an green oasis in a savage but sublime desert.
The time that really stands out is almost at the end, when Theo descends the stairs in the hideous shot-up slum building, carrying the first human born in eighteen years. The officer in charge of the soldiers storming the building immediately calls a cease-fire. Men cry and cross themselves. After decades of cruelty and treating each other like dirt, the rules immediately change when a baby shows up.
That, as much as the happy babble of children over the closing credits that hints that the "Human Project" has pulled it off, implies that humanity, after all the savagery, is redeemable.
I really didn't like this movie much. Lots going on, too much of it unexplained (what was the uprising about, who were the people in the cages, etc.).
Much better book.
Just when you thought that humanity really was doomed, that chick had a baby. Too bad. But then, maybe the baby would die before reaching maturity, so there's always hope.
Actually, I think "Life After People" is not so much inspired by "I Am Legend" as it is by the wonderful book _The World Without Us_, which was profiled here on Salon at its publication.
I've always thought, though, that television runs on memes (obviously). For a while, it was all about vampires -- Buffy, Angel, movies, and tons of History/Travel/Discovery Channel "documentaries." Then it was all ghosts, all the time. Lately, appallingly considering that it happened after 9/11, there's been a spate of mega-disaster shows. Hell, even the Weather Channel got into the act. What is Yellowstone became a megavolcano again? What if an F5 tornado hit Dallas? What if San Francisco has another great quake?
Now the meme is "global human extinction." Don't worry, it'll be Nostradamus again soon enough.
... but I saw it on DVD. Don't have HBO.
Yes, it is a science fiction movie. But "modern" science fiction has forgotten that the science is only there to get to the fiction. We're slowly getting back to a new golden age of Sci-Fi, where we don't have to talk about trilithium crystals or anti-matter to talk about complex drama. Alfonso Cuaran has interviewed in length about removing any explanation for infertility or the nature of the 'human' project so that the movie could entirely focus on the characters. I'm assuming that you've seen it, but *Spoiler Alert* just in case.
This movie is really about Theo and his crisis of faith. In the beginning of the movie Theo's life is stable, in that he has a job, he has a rich & supportive (but distant) brother, a father who's always there for him. However, since the death of his son, he has lost his faith. he's an alcoholic with no dreams or ambitions
Over the course of the movie, he's forced into a mission he doesn't want to be part of. However, as he sees the urgency of the mission, he finds something to live for. One by one, he loses the very people that have supported him, but even in this crisis his faith keeps him alive. When he dies, he dies having faith in the future.
Also, the set design and cinematography were awesome. Especially in long sweeping camera scenes without cuts. A few scenes of note: The scene where his father explains the death of Theo's son while Theo is listening in, pouring a bottle of whisky in the next room. The scene is really about Theo's reaction, not just the character background.
And: The long scene during the "insurgency" where the camera pans behind Theo as he escapes gunfire. Notice that's 10 minutes of special effects without a noticeable cut.
There wasn't a better movie released in 2006 than "Children of Men." I don't know how it looked on TV (don't get cable) but the film was a stunning achievment - much more impressive than 2006's other breakthrough films by Mexican filmmakers, "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Babel." And forget the ultimate Oscar-winner, the schlocky and predictable "The Departed." From the shocking moment that Clive Owen leaves the coffee shop, it captured a sense of dismal reality, presented an even darker-than-now vision of a dystopian future and concluded on a note made more hopeful because of everything that went before it. The two extended shots - the ambush scene and the climax - were tours de force the equal of anything I've seen in recent films - good as they were, they never called undue attention to themselves. This is one of theose films future moviegoers will look back on and marvel that it didn't sweep the Oscars.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
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