“Children Of Men” Boot-Kicks Hollywood Out Of Its Sleep

Kneeling down before our three-second attention spans, mass marketing today asks us only to pay attention to piecemeal images and concepts. So when something comes along that makes us — nay, demands that we — open our hearts and minds for longer than 15 minutes, it is left no middle ground. Such a channel or medium will be tabbed immediately as either a pretentious piece of directorial hubris or a revolutionary, brave foray. In an age when political statements are ridiculed, derided career-enders, an undertaking of bold creativity registers as a breath of fresh air.

Director Alfonso Cuaron encompasses all that and more with his powerful “Children of Men.” Based on the book by P.D. James, this film takes us to a fractured world 20 years into the future, set in 2027 England. The work imagines a dark, barren society that has not seen a new child enter it in 18 years. Cuaron masterfully attains entertainment with relevance, weaving a captivating tale while injecting a host of societal ills and issues that puncture us in headlines every day: terrorism, fertility, environmental degradation, immigration, consumerism … From “fugees” to “Fishes,” Cuaron helps create a riveting landscape with the help of instant Oscar contenders Clive Barker, Michael Caine and Claire Hope-Ashitey. Rarely will you find a film that succeeds in freezing you in your seat with drama — it’s the first time I’ve found myself putting a death grip on the armrests since the opening 10 minutes of “Saving Private Ryan” — while also blending in humor, irony and satire (his use of a state-sponsored suicide treatment called Quietus, combined with a character chiding another for smoking by saying, “Those things’ll kill you,” hit the mark with perfect understatement).

This riveting, daring film has been lauded in some quarters, with Rolling Stone assigning it 3.5 stars. “Is it possible to capture the terrible absence of a world without children?” writes Peter Travers. “Cuaron does it … Cuaron has a gift only the greatest filmmakers share: He makes you believe.”

The picture’s last half an hour is heart-pounding, moving and emotional, and the final 15 border on absolute brilliance. Cuaron succeeds in blurring the lines between today’s transgressions and tomorrow’s bills come due — breathing a landmark film into life in the process.