orichalcum

OK, julianyap and havenstone and retsuko were totally right....and I don't always agree with their movie tastes, fond as I am of them. (Although we went to see it partially on the principle that when that many of your closest friends love a movie...) This movie has some of the best directing and cinematography I've seen in a decade. It's unbelievably intense, and shocking, and the vision of the future is so scarily plausible, apart from the central conceit. As a young parent, it's a particularly gripping movie. It's also one of the most Christian movies I've seen in a long time, something few people seem to be commenting on, and I mean that in a good, C.S. Lewisy kind of way.

Random comments: I love Cuaron's habit of visual motifs - in this case, the border collies. foldedfish and hokulea, there are tons of adorable border collies in this film; in general, the subtle use of pets is quite remarkable.

i love the little details that indicate "future" without drumming it into our heads, like the subtly wrong cars. They don't fly and they don't talk to you, but they are shaped just a little bit differently than 2006 cars - in the same way that 1970s cars look different.

The soundtrack rocks, particularly because of Cuaron's willingness to suddenly increase the volume to shock and startle the listener.

I almost didn't go to see this movie because I disliked the book so much; in particular, I found that there were no likable characters in the book. The movie fixes that problem without going overboard in a Hollywood Action Hero direction; Clive Owen is a terribly human, ordinary man who is tested by an extraordinary situation.

So, um, yeah, go see this film. It's a criminal shame Cuaron wasn't nominated for Best Director, at the least, and if it doesn't get Cinematography, I will cry.