Venice
(Reuters):
Mexican
director
Alfonso
Cuaron
leaves
the
adventures
of
young
wizard
Harry
Potter
behind
him
with
his
new
film
Children
of
Men,
a
bleak
tale
of
an
apocalyptic
world
in
which
humans
can
no
longer
have
babies.
The
film,
vying
for
the
top
prize
at
the
Venice
Film
Festival,
is
set
in
2027
in
a
futuristic
London
strewn
with
litter
and
besieged
by
illegal
immigrants,
Islamic
militants
and
a
cult-like
covert
group
plotting
an
uprising.
The
world
is
in
flames,
heavily
armed
soldiers
man
the
British
capital
like
a
fortress,
refugees
are
herded
into
deportation
camps
and
it
has
been
nearly
19
years
since
the
last
baby
was
born.
Against
the
backdrop
of
violence
and
despair
a
former
activist
agrees
to
help
transport
a
miraculously
pregnant
African
woman
to
a
sanctuary
at
sea,
where
her
child's
birth
may
help
save
humankind
from
extinction.
Starring
Michael
Caine,
Clive
Owen
and
Julianne
Moore,
the
film
provides
a
very
grim
vision
of
a
not-too-distant
future,
but
is
also
meant
as
a
wake
up
call
to
the
world
of
today.
''Cuaron's
intention
was
always
to
do
a
film
that
was
about
the
big
things
that
are
concerning
us
now,
jumping
20
years
in
advance
and
saying
we'd
better
be
careful
because
this
could
be
the
way
we
are
heading,''
Owen,
who
plays
the
lead
character,
told
Reuters
in
an
interview.
Part
of
the
film
was
shot
with
a
handheld
camera
as
Cuaron,
whose
previous
movies
include
''Harry
Potter
and
the
Prisoner
of
Azkaban''
and
the
critically
acclaimed
''Y
Tu
Mama
Tambien'',
wanted
the
audience
to
feel
as
if
they
were
part
of
the
action.
''I
think
what
looks
bleak
for
us
is
everyday
life
for
a
lot
of
people,''
Cuaron
said.
''Sometimes
we
forget
that
we
live
in
a
very
comfortable
bubble.''
In
one
of
the
most
impressive
and
unsettlingly
realistic
sequences,
London
plunges
into
urban
warfare
and
soldiers
fight
street
battles
with
insurgents
holed
up
in
crumbling
buildings.
Cuaron
said
he
did
not
have
to
look
too
far
to
imagine
how
that
scene
should
look.
''Some
of
the
concept
artists
when
they
started
working
on
the
film
...
they
were
so
disappointed
because
they
undusted
all
these
amazing
science-fiction-like
machines
and
cars
and
buildings
and
stuff,''
he
said.
''Then
I
came
with
my
own
pile
of
stuff
that
I
wanted
to
do
and
there
were
photos
of
Bosnia,
Iraq,
Palestine
and
Somalia.''
Owen,
last
seen
in
Spike
Lee's
''Inside
Man'',
plays
Theo,
the
former
activist
shaken
out
of
a
state
of
numbness
by
the
pregnant
immigrant
who
needs
his
help
to
flee
to
safety.
''I
think
he
is
literally
in
every
scene
and
yet
is
the
most
reluctant
lead
character
that
I
have
ever
come
across,''
said
the
actor,
a
big
fan
of
the
''highly
original
and
super-talented''
Cuaron.
The
film
is
due
for
release
in
Britain
later
this
month
and
in
December
in
the
United
States.