children of men

alfonso cuaron is brilliant. children of men is no masterpiece but it is like a work of art. reflects the pain, the desolation of living with breathtaking shots. he sets the mood with no great plot, no twisted storylines, no witty dialogue, no complex content, relying on colour and angle and music. and on one powerful idea. reminiscent of bertollucci.
my favourite scene was the shot of Clive Owen about to enter a deserted, barren children's school, with the rays of the sun glancing off the ceiling, coming down in three separate diverging lines in our field of vision. cuaron films as though he is taking photographs. and treats his movies as though they were paintings, leaving the viewer with a feeling that stems from mood and not from plot.
granted i was the most touched by it. i actually had tears in my eyes by the end, and i didn't know why. my friend pinpointed it. cuaron did not show us hope. he showed us the lack of it. in a beautifully harshly tender way.