Seriously.
My first Alfonso Cuaron movie was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I thought was not very notable at all. If anything, all the fast, chaotic transitions and overly dark atmosphere didn’t suit the story at all. But it was an interesting style, and definitely worth tracking.
Then I saw Children of Men.
Everybody who knows me knows I’m a pathetically easy read. If I saw a good movie, I’ll be sitting in my chair at the end, staring up at the credits with a blank stare on my face. Well, folks, I watched the CoM credits all the way through to silence. It’s an amazing movie in every single way: it’s visually chilling, dark, dreary, and yet hopeful. The level of acting is impressive to say the least, with the always-impressive Clive Owen leading the show it’s hard to go wrong. The soundtrack is amazing, starting with Deep Purple’s classic Hush and ending with the interesting dichotomy of Bring On Da Lucie by John Lennon and Jarvis Cocker’s astonishing Running the World. Most importantly, all of these combine to create a immersive, yet believable world, and a fantastically dark story about hope.
You owe it to yourself to see this movie. If you don’t believe me, watch this. (spoiler warning, nws for language)
And here’s the lyrics to Running The World, which I really quite enjoy, once again NWS for language.
Well did you hear, there’s a natural order.
Those most deserving will end up with the most.
That the cream cannot help but always rise up to the top,
Well I say: Shit floats.
If you thought things had changed,
Friend you’d better think again,
Bluntly put in the fewest of words,
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world.
Now the working classes are obsolete,
They are surplus to societies needs,
So let ‘em all kill each other,
And get it made overseas.
That’s the word don’t you know,
From the guys thats running the show,
Lets be perfectly clear boys and girls,
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world.
Oh feed your children on Cray fish and Lobster tails,
Find a school near the top of the league,
In theory I respect your right to exist,
I will kill ya if you move in next to me,
Ah it stinks, it sucks, it’s anthropologically unjust,
But the takings are up by a third, Oh So
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world.
Your free market is perfectly natural,
Or do you think that I’m some kind of dummy,
It’s the ideal way to order the world,
Fuck the morals, does it make any money?
And if you don’t like it? Then leave.
Or use your right to protest on the street,
Yeah, use your rights but don’t imagine that it’s heard, Oh no no,
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world