Children of Men is a seriously underrated film, and Alfonso Cuaron is a great director.
This movie is very much like a science fiction fable, although it keeps telling you that the story takes place in a future era, but everything presented in the picture, you will feel that it is a scene that you can see with your own eyes in every war-torn country. For example, the location of the story is the United Kingdom, the closed border alludes to Brexit, the Fisher civilian armed organization is very similar to ISIS, and the scene in the refugee camp is like another Auschwitz. When the ability to reproduce disappears from human beings, all they see is a disregard for life and a disappointment for the world.
So when the first baby born in 18 years began to cry, the leader of the organization who exchanged fire said, "I haven't seen a child for too long. When I carried him upstairs just now, I actually cried, he is so cute, His hands and feet are so young, so I need this boy...", when told that it was a girl, he said "I had a sister before...", but before he could finish listening, the sound of cannonballs sounded again . The cries temporarily stopped the sound of artillery fire, but the respect for life only lasted for less than a minute, and the next second, the two sides began to fight for reasons that were unclear.
The film is best known for those two superb long takes. In such a virtual sci-fi story, the appearance of the long shot adds a lot of real meaning of documentary nature, making the audience feel the suffocating riot and escape as if they were there. The first long shot is from the inside to the outside of the car. Shooting, high-speed backward car, rioting insurgents outside the car, motorcycle chase and shoot, shot, open the door, forced to stop by the police car, get out of the car, shoot to kill, get in the car and continue to flee, no handheld camera is used, the camera It moves in and out of the car very smoothly, but every second makes you nervous and amazed. The second long shot was even more extreme. It followed the male protagonist throughout the riot. After following the male protagonist into an RV, the shot was even stained with blood sprayed out. Although there was a slight shaking, it was definitely not. Hand-held, the camera completed the disappearance of the blood spots after following the male protagonist upstairs (I did not realize this when the transition was completed at that moment), found the baby, during which multiple bombings occurred, escorted the baby and the mother of the child downstairs, and Leave by boat. It is said that the first long shot was completely live-action shooting without special effects. It is really unimaginable how the camera can be put in and out in a small car. (The first long take is the best long take I've ever seen, because it comes on and ends so terribly off-guard that it quickly drags you into this car and is forced to feel it all.)
I was also impressed that the song The Court of Crimson King was used in this movie. The first time I heard the grand intro to this song, I thought it would be a shame that such a melody should not be in the movie. , but I can't imagine what kind of plot can fit it perfectly, until I saw this movie, accompanied by the male protagonist sitting in a Rolls-Royce through the chaotic streets, witnessing a piece that was rescued by his brother. A piece of art, outside the window is a real scene of flying pigs and chimneys on the album cover of Pink Floyd's Animals, and hearing his brother say, "I'm just trying not to think about it...", it's all fucking magical realism.
The director arranged the escape of the children of the earth, hoping to board the tomorrow ship to the human plan. What is the human plan? Why does the ship Tomorrow stop regularly at the buoy? There are no answers to these questions. The ship at this time seems to be Noah's Ark to save mankind in the last days. It is full of religious fables. Alfonso hides all the governmentalism, terrorism and racism in the secular society. In the thick fog behind the boat, it is something that the children of the earth are trying their best to get rid of. The anti-government ideology of the whole film seems to explain why it was only nominated for a few technical awards at the Oscars that year.
There are also a few small details, which I always think are a few interesting riddles left by the director and the audience. The first one was the male protagonist's shoes. He didn't have time to put on shoes when he was fleeing. Later, he couldn't find suitable shoes in the jungle cabin and could only wear flip-flops. Later, the flip-flops also fell off. Finally, he finally got dual sports. shoes, but the foot is already injured. The second is that small animals and the relationship between small animals and the male protagonist can be seen everywhere in the refugee camp. The ferocious watchdog sees that the male protagonist is very docile, and the kitten loves to scratch his trouser legs. The women in red in the refugee camp want to go wherever they go. Holding her dog, a rooster running around in a refugee building, a deer in a dilapidated school, and when no more babies will be born, it's as if humans are looking for an outlet for the physical needs of parenting by keeping pets. (The removal of these shots has no effect on the plot, and it is not a useful clue at all, but the director has deliberately arranged many such shots to distract the audience from the noisy story background and pay attention to these small details)
Finally, the film was released in 2006, but if you enjoy it 13 years later, you will only sigh the truth of it. Most of the actors in the film are now familiar, starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Slave Twelve years of starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and even Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck in Gossip Girl, is a matter of fact. Everyone's acting skills are really amazing. I have always disliked the appearance of Clive Owen, who is too boring and boring. And monotonous acting skills, but this time the leading role has really changed my outlook... He can combine honesty and rebelliousness into one person, which is really amazing.
But I think the success of this film should be attributed most to Alfonso Cuaron, and last year's Roma paled in comparison to this film, where he was full of ambition but had the freedom to refuse to conform to the mainstream, Not to mention how much his cinematographic skills add to the film. He deserved an Oscar for best director more than a decade ago.
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