Children of Men

Alfonso Cuaron's Children Of Men was a dystopian science fiction film that was completely engaging as a result of cinematography and plot. The plot centers around an imagined future in which women have lost their ability to bear children, and the political and social upheaval surrounding this notion.

I heard before I saw this movie that it had one of the longest sequences without a cut in recent cinema history. I was looking for this the entire time, and thought it must have been the scene where Theo and Kee were in the car going to meet with "The Fishes" with Julian Moore, when militants attack them.

I find this sort of thing very interesting, and a lot of movies are using minimal cuts nowadays, because editing in the hollywood tradition is seamless and helps the action flow. The conspicuous absence of cuts in this film make it seem more realistic, albeit somewhat unnerving in certian instances such as the car scene, which evoked a sense of almost clausterphobia for the viewer.

Another thing the film does which makes it seem more realistic is the use of the hand-held camera. Especially at the parts toward the end, when all hell is breaking loose, the hand-held camera work evokes a sense of complete chaos. In a lot of ways, the camera almost becomes another character in the film, and I think the hand-held is used to mimic the motions of a person's eyes. In this way, the audience of the film vicariously assumes a place in the stort alongside Theo.