I love it when a movie rekindles, and increases, my love and appreciation of what movies can do. Children of Men does that for me. I’m seeing it again tonight, and I’m just giddy with anticipation.

Apparently, J. Robert Parks was also rather impressed.

I hope award voters won’t be blown away by the violence (which is stark and brutal) and overlook the film’s rich thematic content. Some film critics have complained that the cultural motifs are too vague to be compelling, while others have argued the opposite, that the allegory is too closely tied to today’s political situation. I’d argue that the film is just right, that it reminds us of how legitimate crises can be used by governments eager to grab power and that the “simple” answer of closing our borders is a false solution. Even if you’re not a political junkie, the story of Faron and Kee on the run, along with the various people they meet along the way (including yet another brilliant turn from Peter Mullan), is gripping entertainment. And allusions to another miraculously pregnant young woman make Children of Men an appropriate Christmas film after all.

Thanks to Peter Chattaway for catching this!

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