Father knows best
 | | Julianne Moore |
It's 2027 and boy does the future look bleak. This splendid adaptation of the P.D. James novel tells of a world where the last
child was born 19 years ago. Its last hope lies in pregnant refugee, Kee (played in an indomitable style by Clare-Hope Ashitey), who needs to escape from the immigrant-hating, military state that is now Britain. Should she rely on a rather violent band of anarchists who proclaim to help the refugee cause or turn to the lapsed radical Theo (Clive Owen)?
This apocalyptic vision of the future is in the same vein as films like 28 Days Later but stands above them by embracing nightmarish scenarios that already exist in the present day. A society that detains its immigrants and vilifies them is not far removed from our current, palpable hysteria about the supposed 'immigration crisis'.
Alfonzo Cuarón's blood-spattered lens leads us through the carnage and destruction like a front-line war correspondent but without the editing.
Michael Caine is superb as Theo's old friend Leonard, a friendly hippy with a revolutionary spirit.
Julianne Moore gives a less magnetic performance as Julian, Theo's former lover, now chief honcho of the country's biggest anarchist group. Her tough act doesn't quite wash even though she sports a nose ring.
In fact, the predictable styling of the anarchists is the only criticism I can level at the film.
Chunky knits, dreadlocks and body piercing all round. Theo avoids these clichés and it is a touch of genius having him save the world's last chance of survival in flip flops and an Olympic 2012 t-shirt.
You can see why Clive Owen may not have got the gig as Bond but he wins you over as the unconventional, downbeat hero.
|
|
|
|
|
|