Children Of Men

Yesterday, I watched "Children of Men" with a few of my friends in the dorm. I had heard mixed hype about this film; Peter Travers said it was the second best film of the decade, but Jordan Boboltz (a girl from my high school) said it was not very good. Equally reputable critics indeed.

I try to think of themes from the film, but I can't come up with many. What stands out more than anything is the absolutely gorgeous camera work. The whole film is shot in the steady-cam style, shaking as it runs behind Clive Owen and such, and it was the perfect choice of style. It fits right in with the tone of this dystopian film, and if the camera were any smoother, it would have just felt wrong.

One scene in particular blew my mind: it is early in the film when Theo has just met Key, and the group is riding in a car. The whole scene is shot in the car, but the camera rotates and turns to each character in the car, as if the car has no roof and there's a tripod in the middle of the car. It's absolutely brilliant, and I've never seen anything like it. I learned that the crew developed a special rig so that the camera operator, the film director, the cinematographer, and one other person sat on top of the car, and the camera was hanging into the car and could rotate 360 degrees. The actors had choreography in which they would lean their chairs back and forth depending on the position of the camera. But you could never tell--they pulled it off flawlessly.

Another beautiful shot is when Theo and Julian step out of the van that held Theo captive, and they walk into this gigantic warehouse looking building to talk. The conversation ends, and there's a shot of Julian talking to Theo as he walks away that simply tracks away from her, but for some reason, it stuck out to me.

That is the main thing I will remember about this film. The way it was shot is something I will go back to when I need cinematography inspiration.

As for ideas I can apply to my life, I can't really think of any. One seemingly insignificant man decides to risk his life to save the only hope humanity has for continued existence. That's the story. There is a scene when the baby starts crying and everyone stops fighting that is interesting. No one had seen a baby in decades, and when they do, their anger and rage subside to their unavoidable awe. Maybe the filmmakers were trying to say that respect for life is the only thing that can end wars. That those fighting for political power or international domination or unsettled hatred can no longer fight when they recognize the humanity all around them, be it in the houses on the street they are patrolling, or at the end of the street in the faces of their enemies.

Overall, the film was entertaining, but for me, it became a film textbook which I can study in the future.