Inspiring Stories
Inspiring Stories
~ M. A. Zii Miller ~
This page contains serious spoilers.
My story of inspiration is Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 film, Children of Men. It was loosely adapted from P.D James's 1992 novel by the same name. Children of Men is set in a dystopian future where all women are infertile. It follows a protagonist by the name of Theo Faron, whom had a pretty stable, independent lifestyle before he was "abducted" by a group of rebels led by his ex-wife.
The very first scene in this film, is shot with a hand-held camera, after which an explosion occurs at a nearby shop. You see a gory woman attempt to flee the blast zone with what appears to be her holding her own severed arm. Cuarón couldn't have chosen a more compelling time to introduce the film's title screen; "Children of Men".
Despite the film being a very dark, depressing depiction of our (potential) reality, there are hints of humor that temporarily pull the audience away from the serious tone and ground the story in a way that makes it feel closer to reality. It's not a comedy skit by any means, but this subtle humor is just enough to keep the narrative surprising. I find this important personally, because a movie without breaking from the same emotion the entire time can feel dull eventually.
For example, in the take below -- Jasper (Theo's relative) is heard asking the intruders to "pull my finger" as they questioned him about Theo's whereabouts. With the men aiming the gun at himself, Jasper outreached his hand. Which in the next shot is not too surprisingly, followed by a gunshot. This strong emotional contrast is very effective in keeping the audiences' attention, rather than just having the whole scene be depressing. The hint of humor gives the story hope it could end a different way.
The humor, and other various minor twists in this film helps the story feel original. Usually films, even dystopian ones, follow a somewhat predictable pattern. The protagonist and lead famous actor/actress don't normally die during the film, there's generally a good ending, and generally there's only one climatic point near the end of the film. Children of Men breaks all of those "rules". The ending for example, is left entirely open-ended and up for interpretation.
Children of Men does a wonderful job of mood-building, using extended camera shots to further immerse the viewer into the film. Cutting back and forth between shots is visually pleasing if done well, but if feels like you're watching a movie. These long sequences in Children of Men however, help pull the audience into that world. You can feel the raw emotional intensity of the characters in the scenes as if you were really there. It feels like an amateur captured that footage which in a way, makes the scenes feel even more realistic. Sound effects are abundant, but music is used fairly sparingly for a Thriller film.
Below is an *uninterrupted long shot that's over six minutes in length.
*Not a "true" uninterrupted shot. At 3:15 the camera lens is splattered with blood, which then disappears just before 6:30. Probably the only flaw in this film!
The extended camera takes, the mild humor elements, and generally open ended scenes that hold hold your hand and explain how you should interpret them, makes this the most successful mood building piece of media I've seen to date.
