How is the future represented in the opening of the film 'Children of Men?

This is an essay that we wrote in class, for a guide to help us for the exam.

Para 1: Cinematography

In a dystopian future world where everything seems to be falling apart except London, which “soldiers on”, Cuaron uses cinematographic style to place the audience directly into the filmic world of the characters. Ben Ogrodnik in ‘Senses of Cinema’ describes the camera work as “restless”. We see this in the opening as the handheld camera tracks the protagonist, Theo (Clive Owen) out of the coffee shop in a single long take, documentary-style. As the camera pans right to left from the doorway of the coffee shop, the viewer is given a clear sense of the mise-en-scene with the polluted London street. This unusual camerawork presents a self-conscious style of filmic storytelling, subverting the Classical Hollywood style, where the viewer is also a protagonist. As the camera circles Theo to reveal him pouring (presumably) alcohol into his coffee, people in 2027 seem to have lost hope due to infertility.

Para 2: Mise en scene

Use of colour is significant in the representation of the future in this film. Predominant colours are dark blue and grey. At the editing stage, colour grading has been used to create a dystopian feel. For example, at the beginning there is quite a blue colour over the whole frame, creating a feeling of sadness in the coffee shop as we see the customers staring up at the television screen. Lighting is low-key, which helps to signify the depressed mood. Blue is conventionally associated with coldness, depression, bleakness and lack of hope, all of which create an aesthetic which represents the mindset of the people in 2027.

There are a few futuristic features, such as the transparent television and computer screens. Also, on the moving bus there are video advertisements. The ‘Spring Collection’ is, symbolically, fashion for dogs – the only youth in this society is animals. All the colours are dull except for the red warning notices, such as the one on the top of the building warning against illegal immigrants. Ironically, although this film is set in the future, the cars are all old and the streets are full of pollution-belching rickshaws, with black rubbish bags piled up everywhere. There is an ‘old-fashioned’ feeling, where we might expect the future to be cleaner and ‘upgraded’. Clearly something has gone very wrong in this world – no-one seems to care anymore.

Costumes and props also reflect the dystopian nature of the film. People are wearing unfashionable greys and browns, overcoats and cardigans. There are lots of uniformed police and army vehicles, including a big army helicopter patrolling the sky. This creates a feeling of threat and danger. Poignantly, we see a lady in the foreground cradling a small dog. This perhaps reflects the fact that pets have taken on the role of children.

In terms of facial expression and body language, the characters are all looking sad and depressed, some crying, especially the woman in the office sitting opposite Theo, whose desk is littered with tiny children’s ornaments, showing how much she is missing children, perhaps. Overall, the mise en scene combines to suggest an overarching sense of despair.

Para 3: Sound

In terms of sound, this film subverts conventions again by beginning with a voiceover against a black screen. This is quite typical for the dystopian genre, however, as it sets the scene and gives us an understanding of the filmic world we are entering before we are propelled into the action ‘in media res’. The music we hear diegetically from the televisions is rather funereal, with slow violins, perhaps reflective of what we would expect when a celebrity or a Royal has just died. The music is quite old-fashioned and traditional, again creating a juxtaposition between the future and the past. After the explosion takes place, foley sound is used to put the audience into the filmic world, creating the effect that the impact of the explosion is still ringing in our head. This creates verisimilitude as it is almost like the audience is experiencing the explosion. This is then carried into the next sequence, using sound bridging, showing that they have not gotten over it. There is very little dialogue, as the main focus is towards the news report. This piques our curiosity, acting as a narrative hook, which draws the audience into the story.

Para 4: Editing

In terms of editing, the film does not really reflect the classic Hollywood style. Cuaron deliberately filmed the first sequence in one long continuous take. This documentary style film-making creates the effect of a “real” event; it also makes it more emotive for the audience as we see something that might actually happen in the future. To emphasise this focus on a real future London, the Shard, which was not built in 2006 when the film was made, is edited into the background. It is made quite futuristic at the editing stage by adding the transparent TV screens and computer screens using CGI. The news programme on Baby Diego further emphasises the verisimilitude. The first cut is to Theo walking into his office, with a focus on continuity editing, which we might not expect from a large Hollywood style film. This further strengthens the idea that the audience is part of this world. As previously stated, colour grading has been applied with a blue-grey filter which connotes feelings of melancholy and despair.

In conclusion, from the opening of this film we can see that the director, Cuaron, has created a very bleak portrayal of the future by using low-key lighting, drab costumes and a very hopeless depiction of London in 2027. The viewers might see this as warning; this shows us that London is going “backwards” perhaps because of a lack of care of our environment.