Children of Men: The Political Potential of Background Cinema/ A Moment of Subjectivity Yasser Owino 12th Grade

Look, there we are. The first shot of Alfonso Cuáron’s Children of Men is a shot of an audience getting information about the state of things in the same way that we do, through the media. You may have missed it but Cuáron’s fundamental motif of contrasting foreground and background has already been established through the media before this shot even begins. Like everyone else, the media prioritizes information based on its values. So much attention is paid to the foreground, the lead story that the background can go by without much notice. The lead story of Children of Men is the story of Theo Faron (Clive Owen). In a future world nearing its end because women have lost the ability to have children, Theo, an apathetic government bureaucrat returns to his roots as a political activist after he sees that there’s still hope left for humanity. The film plays as an exciting action thriller as Theo helps the pregnant Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) get to safety with the Human Project.

As the plot moves along its linear path following Theo, the camera repeatedly becomes preoccupied with what’s going on in the background. This is a technique that Cuáron has used in the past, and it makes for an interesting effect, as in thousands of other...