Where do I begin to tell the tale of this brilliant film? Alfonso Cuaron has fashioned an incredibly relevant tale from P.D. James’ novel. It is the story of London 2027 but it is also the story of Earth 2007. We see the future here so we are warned, this is the world that we may very well be shaping and it is a frightening thought.
Speaking of thought, that is exactly what James and Cuaron have put into this venture. Society is at a perilous juncture, not unlike today. Events are spiraling out of control and the government attempts to reign them in but at the same time governments are engineering the turbulence. They spend the rest of the time routing out illegal immigrants whose countries have imploded. Clive Owen and Julianne Moore star in this film and their performances are rendered with much care. That same care is matched by the collaboration of director Cuaron with his cinematographer Emmanuel Luzbecki, and it yeilds results.
There are so many motifs in this epic tale, from animals surrounding a futuristic St. Francis to the consistently bare feet of our protagonist. So much care has been instilled in this film that it is a symbolic wet dream. From shots of graffiti laden walls at a water filtration plant that echo primitive cave drawings to bolder allusions of a futuristic gitmo complete with Arab men in their underwear being terrorized by guards, dogs and guns to the archway above the camp that says ‘homeland security’ so unobstrusively that I missed it completely on the first viewing.
It is a tale of a future where rebellion is terrorism. Is that not where we are today? Cheney, Bush and the Neocons have now fashioned a country where the James Deans are just tortured bi-sexuals and where Rebellion=Terrorism. Wouldn’t the Boston Tea Party today be just another terrorist act that disrupts commerce? We’ll need more than graffiti to help us navigate the treacherous waters ahead. We have seen the future and the terrorists look very scary, but how many realize that we are looking in a mirror? Cuaron does and the fact that this film is being lauded by the critics and ignored by the Academy Awards should tell you all you need to know. There were few minutes of the last 30 that I could watch from eyes not filled with tears at the simple beauty that life can be.
