notes for the weekend: children of men

Hello Readers,

I hope the end of summer weeks finds you well.

Over the year, I’ve been working my way through the Letterboxd list, “Movies Everyone Should Watch At Least Once in Their Lifetime,” , and up next was the 2006 film “Children of Men” with Julianne Moore, Clive Owen and Michael Caine.

The premise of the film is that some event has wiped out humanity’s ability to procreate. The beginning of the film is a scene of a group of post-apocalyptic gawkers watching a news reel about the recent death of the youngest human alive, who was 18 years old, and weeping.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this film, but it was amazing to me how resonate its themes were, 20 years later. Will humanity choose fear and hatred, or will we choose hope and risk exposure? There are some incredibly powerful scenes in the film thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki, who just seemed way ahead of his time. The one-shots in this film are some of the best/most intense/creative I’ve ever seen, and totally add to the story. The sets are really cool as well.

But maybe most surprising of all, the film resounds with Christian themes. Afterward, my friend Joel told me the film is based on a short story by P.D. James, a Christian author, and it does show.

It’s a really well told story, and I can’t really stop thinking about the action shots…I’d watch it again just for those.

You can check it out here.

Read well and rest well,

Nicholas