Don’t Be So Political: CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)

Don’t Be So Political is a monthly film series that engages with films through a political lens. Each screening is preceded by an expert Q&A. Hosted by Zach Wortzman

 

“I was there at the end.” 

 

Set two years from today, in an infertile world, a former activist fights for hope by protecting a miraculously pregnant woman. 
Long takes and famous one shots ramp up the tension in Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men. Depicting a dystopia in the very near future, the film focuses on crises of fertility, refugees, security, free speech, right to protest, fundamentalism, and a militant police force. Never bogged down in exposition, the film races from one pulse pounding sequence to the next all in pursuit of hope.  

 

Marking Cuaron’s second English language feature, Children of Men was nominated for three Academy Awards and remains a seminal entry into the genre of dystopian fiction. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki works magic with the camera bringing the audience along for an unforgettable descent into a crumbling world. At times prophetic and always portending doom, the film warns us of the delicate nature of our planet and our humanity.   (ZACH WORTZMAN)