Children of Men

So, I watched Children of Men Saturday night and even though I started it at 11 p.m. or so I was completely sucked in and amazed.

First of all, this movie has set decoration like no movie I have seen in a long time. The detail was incredible and the variety was ridiculous. Michael Caine (who was ridiculous, and I'll get to that later) had a house in the middle of nowhere that was full of knick-knacks and nature-y things, which contrasted absolutely beautifully with the drab, dirty, monochrome set that was London and the harrowing warzone/refugee camp, where the film's last 20 minutes took place. The difference between all of these gave the movie a very intense, gritty feel. A particularly stirring (read: awesome) scene that comes to mind: Clive Owen is running from gunshot cover to gunshot cover, and there are dead bodies everywhere. He eventually just dives into a pile of bodies behind a barricade. All three of the people in my room watching were startled (audibly) to find out that the bodies were actually alive (they reacted angrily to being dove into). That's how engrossed we were.

Back to Michael Caine. If the man suffers from any career pitfalls, he suffers from being typecast as Alfred Pennyworth (seriously, did anyone else come to mind when you heard they were updating the Batman franchise?). Not anymore. He was hilarious, tragic, and spot on as Jasper Palmer, the old hippie who actually told a guy with a gun in his face to pull his finger.

Also, I have to say that the production crew in this movie is incredible. During one scene in the warzone/refugee camp where Clive Owen is frantically looking for the girl and the baby, he walks through several floors and around several corners. The thing is,, this scene, which was several minutes long,, was done with a single camera - it was one long take full of explosions and gunshots and reactions, which would have required an incredible amount of strict coordination.

Children of Men was gloriously dark, and please don't think I'm crazy/emo. The mood was beautifully conveyed by every aspect of the movie. It was just really good, and very sobering.