The Great Ganesha

[From my Thirsty article.]

Like The Last King of Scotland, this is a novel-to-screen (from P.D. James? novel of the same name) adaptation, but this is a work of art independent of the book, not unlike Kubrick?s A Clockwork Orange. Alfonso Cuaron has created a masterpiece with this tightly shot film which is, by far, the best movie of the year, from a cinematic perspective.

It is 2027 and all women have become infertile. No children have been born for 18 years. The last child that was born has just died. With the loss of children comes a loss of hope and a general malaise to follow any rules of civility. Governments have lost control of their populations and terrorism and unrest is widespread. People hurl objects at trains, bombs explode periodically and an over-the-counter suicide medication, Quietus (with reference to Hamlet), is sold so that ?you decide when.? Countries don?t exist anymore, only Britain does, just about, because of its island-nation status, and the government proudly proclaims, ?The world has collapsed. Only Britain soldiers on.? The use of ?soldiers? is not accidental ? an authoritarian regime exists, in which all immigrants are rounded up and taken into internment camps by ?Homeland Security.? If the world outside these camps is a nightmarish version of the world we live in, then the world inside these camps is a nightmarish version of the world outside them. There is physical torture, executions at will and overall rampant lawlessness in extreme living conditions.

In this world, Theo (Clive Owen) is a bureaucrat working for the government. Like Winston Smith from Orwell?s 1984, when the movie starts he is a nobody, just following the rules – not because he believes in them, but because he has to, and he wants to be left alone. Mostly to be able to smoke pot with his friend Jasper (Michael Caine), a retired political cartoonist who lives in the middle of the woods, grows his own weed and likes listening to loud music. Theo?s ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore, in a thankfully brief role) though, is a leader of a group of rebels who call themselves ?The Fishes? (Chiwetel Ejiofor, amongst others) and want to protect the rights of immigrants. Dragged unwillingly to meet with Julian, Theo is asked, in exchange for money, to help her procure papers for an immigrant named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to escape to ?The Human Project.? This is a half-mythical organization of benevolent scientists who research the reversal of the infertility, and who exist far away from London providing the only hope in this otherwise desolate world. After some thought, Theo agrees to do it. And then he realizes Kee?s significance ? she is pregnant. Even as his journey to ?The Human Project? throws Theo into a hell within hell, Kee transforms his desolation and despair to hope, finally giving his life some meaning.

Theo and Jasper argue

Shot exquisitely, with beautifully choreographed battles, an attention to detail that borders on the obsessive and subtle symbolism throughout the film, Alfonso Cuaron creates a masterpiece of cinema. There is a lack of clarity about the details of the plot, but this is an almost-deliberate attempt to disorient the audience, so they can empathize with the protagonists? confusion and despair. The exceptional direction can be seen in the cinematography as it subtly reflects Theo?s despondency turning to joy. The soundtrack displays Cuaron?s love for progressive rock as it is put to excellent use. The acting is superlative with Clive Owen completely foregoing Clive Owen, The Star, to become Theo, The Nobody. Michael Caine shines as Jasper, and Pam Ferris is excellent as Miriam. There is also extensive use of dogs throughout the film ? almost every scene has one, either in the foreground or the background, perhaps as a symbol for the spirit in every human which can either reduce them to shamelessly execute or allow them to battle all obstacles to do the right thing. Or perhaps it is because Cuaron just likes dogs. Also look out for the direct reference to the cover of Pink Floyd?s Animals, which is itself a tribute to Orwell?s anti-totalitarian novel, Animal Farm.

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