Children of Men is the best film you will see this year. The new film by Mexican born filmmaker Alfonso Cuarn has everything in it any SuicideGirl will ever need. The film is set in Britain in the near future where no babies have been born for 18 years. Britain is the only place left where a free man can be safe and thats just what former activist Theodore Faron [played by Clive Owen] thinks until an encounter with his ex-wife and her army of rebels known as The Fishes convinces him that he must escort the last pregnant woman on Earth to safe area outside the UK. Cuarn has combined the character study skills he honed with Y tu mam tambin with the special effects experience he picked up by directing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to make Children of Men one of the most fascinating and riveting films ever.
Check out the official website for Children of Men
Daniel Robert Epstein: I thought Children of Men was fantastic.
Alfonso Cuarn: Thank you.
DRE: My wife cried quite a bit during it.
AC: Im sorry.
DRE: [laughs] A film like Children of Men really shows you that within the science fiction genre you can do anything.
AC: Well, I was not thinking so much about the genre because what I was afraid of was to do a film that could be perceived as a science fiction film. I wanted to do a film that would speak about the present in a more direct way. Science fiction is amazing in how it can be a metaphor about our reality but I wanted to not to make a metaphor but to make a visual journey through reality.
DRE: Everything about the film felt so relevant, it was as if you just finished the film a few days before. How much of what has happened in 2006 influenced the film?
AC: Tim Sexton and I wrote the script right after Y tu mam tambin. Then what happened was I went to do Harry Potter [and the Prisoner of Azkaban] and then finally Children of Men happened. What we were very cautious about was to try to keep on updating the issues. Thematically we felt very strongly about the main thematic elements of the film but it is about the state of things. There is a state of things that withstand history and is about the human condition. That, in a way, is timeless. I think that the way brutality infuses over humanity is something that is timeless. By the same token, by combining that timelessness with very specific iconography that is engraved in human consciousness, that iconography comes from media and news. We were thinking that would be the sense of immediate reality.
DRE: Being that you work in American films you are an immigrant in a way.
AC: I guess so. If you have to define me as an immigrant then yes I would belong to that minority that is known as partial immigrant. That has nothing to do with experience of the immigrant that has to immigrate because of economic needs or oppression.
DRE: Right, but you could relate to the characters on that level?
AC: I can relate in the characters that I dont understand borders. For me human beings are human beings. I was watching last month as they were fixing the Hubble Telescope. In maps you always see these images of the beautiful planet but I didnt see all the little colors that they show in maps. It was this amazing, beautiful, organic thing.
DRE: Technically I thought Children of Men was nearly flawless. What did you like about using such wide shots such as when Michael Caine is confronting The Fishes outside his cabin?
AC: [cinematographer] Emmanuel Lubezki, who we call Chivo, won the award best cinematography in Venice for this film. From the get go, Chivo and I decided that no matter how big this film got, our approach was going to be the same as Y tu mam tambin, where social environment is as important as character. So theres an avoidance of close-ups to give weight to character vs. environment. Its about keeping a very objective distance. Also trying not to sentimentalize the moment or trying to effect things through editing or montage. Theres the temptation of having Michael Caine, who is such an amazing actor with such an amazing face, of trying to milk a moment to the enjoyment of your star. It was about trying to keep a distance because we felt that certain things would be more brutal to watch from a distance.
DRE: Whats interesting in this world in film is the act of sex seems to have gone to the wayside. It doesnt seem like such a sexually charged society like we have in America.
AC: It is more in the texture of the meaning. There are a lot of little parts about sex companions and prostitution and stuff. But what we were trying to avoid is the idea of a romantic outcome. We were trying to avoid the idea of the metaphor about creating a new baby, one that would represent the hope for humanity. We were trying to avoid the idea of the creation of a new lineage.
DRE: In many science fiction films that use the idea of having to bring someone somewhere, usually the person thats bringing them is absolutely right but theres certainly an argument to say that the baby should stay with The Fishes.
AC: Theres an argument. The problem is you would sink deeper and deeper into the quicksand ideology because there is an ideological problem in that the needs of humanity are subordinating to ideological needs.
DRE: Do you know what youre working on next yet?
AC: Im hoping to do a tiny film in Mexico. Im still not very clear what it is going to be but I think its going to be something there in Mexico, very tiny.
DRE: I also saw Pans Labyrinth this past year.
AC: Amazing.
DRE: Its an amazing movie. How involved were you with Pans Labyrinth beyond your friendship with Guillermo [del Toro]?
AC: When Guillermo and I were in our very early 20s we did some TV programs together. He wrote a screenplay that I directed which was like the seed for Pans Labyrinth. It was about ogres not Pan and it was performed by Guillermo in latex. Then a couple of years ago we were having dinner and he told me this story and I said, Lets do it. From that moment we started pre-production. There was no script but we had so much faith in this project that we started paying for things and making deals with actors out of our own money while we were putting everything together.
DRE: Would the two of you ever work on a film 50-50?
AC: We always talk about it. Doing a film with me, Guillermo and Alejandro Irritu. At one point Guillermo wanted to do a story of a kidnapping seen from three different points of view and for each one of us to take a different character for a different point of view of the same situation.
DRE: Thatd be wild!
AC: That would be very interesting.
DRE: Alfonso, thank you so much for talking with me. I really appreciate it.
AC: No, thank you. Thanks so much for connecting with the film.
DRE: Oh no problem. The film was is just stunning. I dont really cry at movies but if I could I would cry at that one.
AC: Oh come on, dont be a wimp, cry.
DRE: I cant cry at movies [laughs].
AC: Come on.
DRE: I cry at real life, hows that.
AC: Im not a girl; you dont have to tell me that. Youre so sensitive, right. I dont cry at movies, I cry at real life. Is that your pickup line?
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website for Children of Men
Daniel Robert Epstein: I thought Children of Men was fantastic.
Alfonso Cuarn: Thank you.
DRE: My wife cried quite a bit during it.
AC: Im sorry.
DRE: [laughs] A film like Children of Men really shows you that within the science fiction genre you can do anything.
AC: Well, I was not thinking so much about the genre because what I was afraid of was to do a film that could be perceived as a science fiction film. I wanted to do a film that would speak about the present in a more direct way. Science fiction is amazing in how it can be a metaphor about our reality but I wanted to not to make a metaphor but to make a visual journey through reality.
DRE: Everything about the film felt so relevant, it was as if you just finished the film a few days before. How much of what has happened in 2006 influenced the film?
AC: Tim Sexton and I wrote the script right after Y tu mam tambin. Then what happened was I went to do Harry Potter [and the Prisoner of Azkaban] and then finally Children of Men happened. What we were very cautious about was to try to keep on updating the issues. Thematically we felt very strongly about the main thematic elements of the film but it is about the state of things. There is a state of things that withstand history and is about the human condition. That, in a way, is timeless. I think that the way brutality infuses over humanity is something that is timeless. By the same token, by combining that timelessness with very specific iconography that is engraved in human consciousness, that iconography comes from media and news. We were thinking that would be the sense of immediate reality.
DRE: Being that you work in American films you are an immigrant in a way.
AC: I guess so. If you have to define me as an immigrant then yes I would belong to that minority that is known as partial immigrant. That has nothing to do with experience of the immigrant that has to immigrate because of economic needs or oppression.
DRE: Right, but you could relate to the characters on that level?
AC: I can relate in the characters that I dont understand borders. For me human beings are human beings. I was watching last month as they were fixing the Hubble Telescope. In maps you always see these images of the beautiful planet but I didnt see all the little colors that they show in maps. It was this amazing, beautiful, organic thing.
DRE: Technically I thought Children of Men was nearly flawless. What did you like about using such wide shots such as when Michael Caine is confronting The Fishes outside his cabin?
AC: [cinematographer] Emmanuel Lubezki, who we call Chivo, won the award best cinematography in Venice for this film. From the get go, Chivo and I decided that no matter how big this film got, our approach was going to be the same as Y tu mam tambin, where social environment is as important as character. So theres an avoidance of close-ups to give weight to character vs. environment. Its about keeping a very objective distance. Also trying not to sentimentalize the moment or trying to effect things through editing or montage. Theres the temptation of having Michael Caine, who is such an amazing actor with such an amazing face, of trying to milk a moment to the enjoyment of your star. It was about trying to keep a distance because we felt that certain things would be more brutal to watch from a distance.
DRE: Whats interesting in this world in film is the act of sex seems to have gone to the wayside. It doesnt seem like such a sexually charged society like we have in America.
AC: It is more in the texture of the meaning. There are a lot of little parts about sex companions and prostitution and stuff. But what we were trying to avoid is the idea of a romantic outcome. We were trying to avoid the idea of the metaphor about creating a new baby, one that would represent the hope for humanity. We were trying to avoid the idea of the creation of a new lineage.
DRE: In many science fiction films that use the idea of having to bring someone somewhere, usually the person thats bringing them is absolutely right but theres certainly an argument to say that the baby should stay with The Fishes.
AC: Theres an argument. The problem is you would sink deeper and deeper into the quicksand ideology because there is an ideological problem in that the needs of humanity are subordinating to ideological needs.
DRE: Do you know what youre working on next yet?
AC: Im hoping to do a tiny film in Mexico. Im still not very clear what it is going to be but I think its going to be something there in Mexico, very tiny.
DRE: I also saw Pans Labyrinth this past year.
AC: Amazing.
DRE: Its an amazing movie. How involved were you with Pans Labyrinth beyond your friendship with Guillermo [del Toro]?
AC: When Guillermo and I were in our very early 20s we did some TV programs together. He wrote a screenplay that I directed which was like the seed for Pans Labyrinth. It was about ogres not Pan and it was performed by Guillermo in latex. Then a couple of years ago we were having dinner and he told me this story and I said, Lets do it. From that moment we started pre-production. There was no script but we had so much faith in this project that we started paying for things and making deals with actors out of our own money while we were putting everything together.
DRE: Would the two of you ever work on a film 50-50?
AC: We always talk about it. Doing a film with me, Guillermo and Alejandro Irritu. At one point Guillermo wanted to do a story of a kidnapping seen from three different points of view and for each one of us to take a different character for a different point of view of the same situation.
DRE: Thatd be wild!
AC: That would be very interesting.
DRE: Alfonso, thank you so much for talking with me. I really appreciate it.
AC: No, thank you. Thanks so much for connecting with the film.
DRE: Oh no problem. The film was is just stunning. I dont really cry at movies but if I could I would cry at that one.
AC: Oh come on, dont be a wimp, cry.
DRE: I cant cry at movies [laughs].
AC: Come on.
DRE: I cry at real life, hows that.
AC: Im not a girl; you dont have to tell me that. Youre so sensitive, right. I dont cry at movies, I cry at real life. Is that your pickup line?
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
mattscope:
It is such a great film, you have to check it out!
ish369:
freakin amazin.. just the level of directing of Alfonso Cuaron .. is so mind blowing