tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13095695.post8306328005419963190..comments2023-10-22T17:40:51.323-04:00Comments on Tativille: New Film: Children of Men & Night at the MuseumMichael J. Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12333893240336518881noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13095695.post-63733660080717276192007-01-05T14:26:00.000-05:002007-01-05T14:26:00.000-05:00I think grounding the future in the present (while...I think grounding the future in the present (while keeping the exact cause of the infertility ambiguous) is another tactic of Cuaron to enhance the aura of terror around the scenario. I think a key line spoken in the film is when Owen says, "It was already too late before the infertility thing," which suggests, as pretty much any really good dystopian film or book does, that the viewers are well on their way to creating the future presented, they just don't realize it yet.Matt Singerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09435763315169249477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13095695.post-52115986740735354722007-01-05T00:43:00.000-05:002007-01-05T00:43:00.000-05:00Matt,
While you bring up some very good points, I...Matt,<br /><br />While you bring up some very good points, I would repeat that by referencing the present in CHILDREN OF MEN'S future, Cuaron raises the issue of causality in producing said world. I would have greatly preferred a film where everything is inexplicable, but Cuaron didn't opt for such a narrative. He wants to suggest that something in our world led to that world, and then he refuses to say what... or what he thinks is too convoluted to construe effective allegory. Really I just want to say that "he started it."Michael J. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12333893240336518881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13095695.post-30181633673062295282007-01-04T22:27:00.000-05:002007-01-04T22:27:00.000-05:00I'm not sure I understand why not explaining the r...I'm not sure I understand why <i>not</i> explaining the reason for humanity's infertility is a flaw of the film. On a purely practical level, if the characters understood why the infertility existed they'd be a lot more capable of reversing it. The reason Kee is so important is that by studying her there is a chance they can finally understand what caused all of the world to suddenly stop reproducing.<br /><br />On a less practical and more emotional level, keeping the reason unexplained can make (and, in this case, I think, does make) for a more frightening experience. And he's hardly alone in that: in four movies, Romero never explained what made the dead rise from their graves, and if given a hundred more movies, I'm sure he never would. His reasons are the same: practically, none of the characters in any of the movies can figure out why they dead are alive again, and emotionally, it adds an element of dread to the audience's experience because at any moment, for any reason at all...hell, for <i>no</i> reason at all...something terrible could happen.<br /><br />If I may so Mr. A, what makes <i>Children of Men</i> so marvelous is its visceral qualities. As fine as your analytical approach to the film is, as strong as the points you make are, they devalue the impact those long takes, those characters, those situations have. It was one of the most moving, powerful, intense, scary movies I've seen in quite a while. Sorry Mr. Slade...Matt Singerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09435763315169249477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13095695.post-29825659729287611532007-01-01T19:59:00.000-05:002007-01-01T19:59:00.000-05:00I only made it through half of Children of Men.
I ...I only made it through half of Children of Men.<br />I was bored since I didn't care about the plot or the characters. After looking a my watch a few times I just went home and wrote on my blog how much I hated it.Media gluthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com