GEORGE ORWELL WOULD BE PROUD

I realized that I promised a review of Children of Men months ago and never followed through. Well, I just watched it again and my love of this movie has been strengthened. If I were a professor teaching film, I would use this film as an example of excellence. This is an amazing movie on so many levels. The acting is top-notch. The cinematography is beautiful. The script is captivating. What else can I say?

The story takes place in a future where women are sterile, but that is not the focus. It is not about why this has happened. It is presented in a near mockumentary style with the camera placed right in the middle of the action. This along with the lack of soundtrack puts the viewer in the middle of what is going on. The director makes you believe that this is real and that you are witnessing it as it happens. Within the first 5 or so minutes, there is such a huge shock that I was hooked. Everything about this film is perfect. It is based on a novel by P D James whom I knew as an author of mysteries. I will definitely be reading this book and may try some others by her.

In keeping with bleak pseudo-future films is another from my top 10 list: V for Vendetta. It also takes place in an England plagued by dire circumstances. But where Children of Men is minimalist in it's presentation, V is grandiose. It centers around a young woman (played by the ever-beautiful and bald Natalie Portman) who is reluctantly thrust into the fight against a totalitarian regime. There is no missing the premonitory nature of this film. It reeks with it. I must admit it made me wonder what would happen if anarchists were to overthrow a government. I stated a few years back on this blog that I don't think anarchy could ever succeed. I still believe this. The fact is that some people are natural leaders and others are followers. While deposing a government is possible and perhaps necessary (are ya listening Mr. Bush?), I find it very unlikely that a society without government or laws could be viable. The fact is humans are pack animals and we require an alpha to survive. So are you an alpha or a beta?