Children of Men (2006)

Theodore Faron: Julian? I haven't seen you in twenty years. You look good. The picture the police have of you doesn't do you justice.
Julian Taylor: What do the police know about justice?

Director:  Alfonso Cuarón
Producer: Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Hilary Shor, Iain Smith, Tony Smith
Cinematography:  Emmanuel Lubezki
Main Cast:  Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Danny Huston
Runtime:  109 minutes

How much you can read into a film is often a reflection of its script and production, and in this case there is much that can be seen in this movie if you want to look hard enough.  The film is set in 2027, not too futuristic as to be disconnected with what we see today (ie. same kind of buildings and transport) but something that we can still relate too, yet something has happened that has changed the course of history.  It is at a time where there is little hope of a future as all the women have become infertile and as the movie starts the world is in mourning as the youngest child alive (18 years old) dies an unnatural death.  The world appears to be in chaos and the government rules with a stiff hand courtesy of the police.

From the opening scene we get to know the uncertainty and fear running through people’s minds and the fragility of them.  There are ideas of Britain almost becoming like a Nazi Germany but modernised and this really gets shown clearly if you watch the film looking at both foreground (the actors) and also what is happening in the background.  It almost seems that as much attention is given to the background as to the foreground where the camera is directly focused, and it is a movie that contains so much attention to detail that it is more often missed which is probably one of the reasons why it didn’t go too well at the box office yet some these days some consider it a masterpiece.  On the note of background detail, keep an eye out for the floating pig which is a direct reference to Orwell’s dystopian society which is sure to be noticed by Pink Floyd fans.

About halfway through there is a scene where the main cast are travelling in a car that gets ambushed which was filmed in one take (no chopping or changing of camera angles just one take).  Then closer toward the end there is an action scene that goes for about 6 minutes which again, is one long continuous take which is downright amazing when you consider what is happening in that scene.  Sure there have been other films that have done this with the gold medal probably going to Russian Ark where the whole film is one take (amazingly), but here we have the Cinematographer Emmaniel Lubezki (Gravity, Birdmen) doing some of what he does best.  So why is one take so good?  There is no chopping and changing between characters which can disconnect you from what is happening, but rather the camera moves and/or follows the cast or action in a way that makes you feel as though you are part of the action or tension of what is happening.  Some films like Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 classic Rope have been skilfully edited to appear like one shot but in Children of Men there are quite a few long takes (over 30 minutes’ worth if you only take shots longer than 45 seconds) which really helps you feel part of the film.

To cut a long story short Theo (Clive Owen) gets assigned by his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) a task to transport the only known pregnant woman, Kee, to a group known as the “Human Project” who are trying to solve the world’s infertility problem.  The gets help along the way but comes across various obstacles as they try to hide the girl’s pregnancy from the population, particularly the authorities and those who would have more sinister motives.
There is some swearing in the movie and a scene containing a short segment of nudity when Kee reveals to Theo that she is pregnant.

The Bluray reviewed is the Australian release available at very reasonable prices in your local JB Hi-fi store.  The image is very strong and wonderfully presented in its 1.85:1 aspect ratio and has a powerful DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack to keep your ears tuned in.  The Bluray also contains the following extras:

• Creating the baby featurette
• Deleted Scenes
• Futuristic design featurette
• Theo and Julian featurette
• Under Attack featurette
• Possibility of Hope featurette
• Comments by Slavoj Zizek

I had seen this movie some years back and enjoyed it but now having viewed it after doing some minor reading up on it I enjoy it all the more as it is one you could watch multiple times and not get bored of its story or achievements.  It is a fantastic dystopian, science fiction thriller that will only gain more attention in years to come.  Highly Recommended!

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It Happened Here (1965)

[Pauline is registering]
Pauline: I've decided to join.
Clerk: We don't accept your decisions. You accept ours.

Director: Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo
Producer:  Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo
Runtime:  97 minutes

In the back of our minds the question starting with those words “What if” is often asked.  What if that engine broke down in the middle of nowhere?  What if I made a different choice at that part of my life?  Well this is one of three movies that I know of where the question is asked What if Hitler won WW2?   The other two I know of is the 1994 Fatherland starring Rutger Hauer and the UK 2010 film Resistance (I am excluding the Amazon TV series Man in the High Castle and BBC production SS-GB).

To give a brief description of the film I will quote a portion of the back of the DVD cover.
“The German invasion of England took place in July 1940 after the British retreat from Dunkirk. Strongly resisted at first, the German army took many months to restore order. But the resistance movement, lacking outside support, was finally crushed. Then, in 1944, the resistance movement reappeared...”

The movie was released in 1965 however it was filmed over eight years between 1956 and 1964 by two teens Kevin Brownlow 18 and Andrew Mollo at the age of 16.  It was filmed using mostly borrowed equipment, however to complete the project Stanley Kubrick donated left over stock film after he finished filming “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”.  Considering the experience these guys had, the film is very life like and seems quite accurate as to how one would think it would work out should such a horrible thing have occoured.  

The movie has a documentary feel to it which also gives it a great realism.  In a way it reminded me of the 1948 film Berlin Express, the first Hollywood film to be made in Germany after the war, which was a mystery/thriller partly based on a train and almost like a small documentary as it revealed the bombed out ruins of Frankfurt and parts of Berlin.  In this film however we view the film itself about the German forces in London and also what London looked like some years after the war.  

The attention to detail is great and whilst the actors were pretty much volunteers they do a decent job especially as the film progresses.  In fact, some of the SS and Wehrmacht officers were actually ex-servicemen!  Even some of the music used in the film was actual music played in Germany during the war and the majority of the rest of it has a similar feel to it which makes this film even more believable.  I could only imagine how hard it would have been for the locals to see this movie being made.

The DVD reviewed here is a remastered version of the film and at the time of writing will cost about $30-$45 for a legit copy on Ebay, Amazon UK or USA which has already gone up from when I purchased it in August 2015.  The video quality is dark at the start but the video brightens up a bit in its 1.33:1 aspect ratio.  The audio however, remains a bit uneven throughout the movie but is generally fine with a few tweaks of the volume control.  The DVD comes with the following extras:

• Original cut of newsreel footage
• Trailer
• Galleries of Occupied Paris and Production Stills
• Introduction by Kevin Brownlow

Overall the movie is a stunning imagination of what it could have been like if the outcome of WW2 was different.  It comes recommended as it is scary in its realism as to what could have happened.  It makes me feel so blessed and thankful to God that the Nazi’s did not win the war.

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