One of the best movies ever made imo. Getting closer to reality by the year. World building of the finest order, script beyond reproach - a real work of dystopian art.
Saddens me that film making is getting further and further from this kind of poignant and unabashedly singular vision.
I find it interesting that Idiocracy was released the same year. Two very different films, but I think two of the most prophetic of their time, and I enjoyed them both a lot, but I always say that "Children of Men" is the best movie that I'll never watch again.
Mostly echoing everyone else’s appreciation for the film in the thread. I was sucked in when I saw it the first time, and it’s one of the few movies I regret not seeing in theaters when it was available. If Alamo ever decides to do a special showing of it, I’d be there in a heartbeat.
It’s upsetting how as the years go on, I’m seeing more and more similarities to the world that the film depicts. But in a strange way, that makes the film all the more important to me.
the sound design also was on point - Cuaron avoided most tropes from memory. And the music supervision, fucking incredible. Being a huge fan of UK Continuum, the use of early formative dubstep is just brilliant, not to mention Tavener's work on it.
What social disintegration is like. Ways to respond to it. In the movie that was sparked by people not having children, but it's not really about the spark, but about projecting further social disintegration in our societies on the paths they are now (many people here say the picture seems familiar or prescient, and they're not talking about birthrates), and the choices that gives or takes away from people.
But thats just me, I didn't mean to be telling you what it has to be about for you.
Very interesting. I agree, it's a really good depiction of what societal collapse would look no matter what "triggers" it. Like said in other comments, there's a Half-Life 2 look & feel to the movie as well.
The "Religion" section of the Wikipedia article is particularly interesting. I had known that the title was a Biblical reference, but it hadn't quite clicked that this is, literally, a nativity story.
I had next written a free-associating post here about Christmas, and paganism, and Diwali and Holi, and cycles of the seasons, and life and death and resurrection. And I backspaced over it. But then I returned to the article and saw -- details I hadn't remembered -- that the director had gone very far in this direction himself, with Sanskrit verse and final text.
I think that, at its core, it's a primitive and fundamental story.
The most important stories:
1. The seasons repeat, with spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
2. You are born, you live, and then you die.
3. When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much --
Let me put it another way, like maybe the Indo-Europeans did:
Father Sky lies upon Mother Earth, and his rains come forth, and lo!, she bears fruit.
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[ 0.24 ms ] story [ 221 ms ] threadSaddens me that film making is getting further and further from this kind of poignant and unabashedly singular vision.
Living in London the past year as a foreigner made me think about this movie several times.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjFHqohaHYU
It’s upsetting how as the years go on, I’m seeing more and more similarities to the world that the film depicts. But in a strange way, that makes the film all the more important to me.
The "gimmick" is that nobody can have children anymore, but that's not really what it's about at all.
But thats just me, I didn't mean to be telling you what it has to be about for you.
I had next written a free-associating post here about Christmas, and paganism, and Diwali and Holi, and cycles of the seasons, and life and death and resurrection. And I backspaced over it. But then I returned to the article and saw -- details I hadn't remembered -- that the director had gone very far in this direction himself, with Sanskrit verse and final text.
I think that, at its core, it's a primitive and fundamental story.
The most important stories:
1. The seasons repeat, with spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
2. You are born, you live, and then you die.
3. When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much --
Let me put it another way, like maybe the Indo-Europeans did:
Father Sky lies upon Mother Earth, and his rains come forth, and lo!, she bears fruit.