Movie Stats:
Released 2006 (Italy)
American, British & Japanese, in English (lots of non-translated foreign languages)
Director - Alfonso Cuaron
Stars - Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, and many others
Plot Summary:
In a near future where all women in the world have been infertile for nearly 20 years, young Kee (Ashitey) finds herself pregnant. Cynical former activist Theo Faron (Owen) is tapped to bring her to safety.
Warnings:
Strong blue language; violence; gore; brief female nudity (breasts & labia); drug use (marijuana).
Bad Stuff:
The pace is quite slow.
The birth scene is rather unbelievable.
Good Stuff:
I like that Theo is just a guy. He doesn’t have special skills or superhuman powers. His initial flight with Kee is almost comical, shoeless, with a car that barely starts. He spends half the film running for his life in flip flops. He simply cares, first for the ex-wife who asks for his help (Julian, played by Julianne Moore) and then for the Kee & the baby.
The acting is phenomenal. I love that you can see Theo transform from a man who’s been completely beaten down by life into a person with hope. There are some great secondary characters as well. My favorites are Theo’s friend Jasper (Michael Caine) & police officer Syd (Peter Mullan).
It has the kind of open ending I enjoy.
It’s got a great soundtrack.
The Verdict:
I saw this when it first came out. Whenever someone mentions it, I always say, “I love that film!” But I only saw it that once until now. While I don’t particularly care for the slow pace, I still think it’s a very good film. I find it incredibly moving. In fact, during one particular scene toward the end, I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. The hope & redemption in a world gone mad just really hit me right in the feels. The acting, particularly from Owen, was what stood out to me then, and it’s still what most stands out to me now, but there’s also much more to recommend, including what I mentioned above plus the stark cinematography.
I give it 4.5 stars.
2 comments:
I have not seen this film, but I have read the book on which it is based. My friend and I had a confusing conversation once, where she was talking about the movie and I was talking about the book, and we eventually realized that the movie probably deviates from the book, hence our confusion.
It's a really good book, and I highly recommend it. (Though I haven't read it since that first read, so perhaps it is also quite slow. :-))
I also have never heard anything but good things about the movie.
I suppose there are relatively few movie adaptations out there that don't deviate from the book in one way or another.
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