Alfonso Cuarón's latest film, Children of Men (2006) (Amazon UK | US), is regarded by many as a masterpiece in virtually every aspect of popular cinema. The film has quickly become notorious for the intricate and richly layered plot, the understated but brilliant performances, and the baffling, apocalyptic cinematography that depicts a futuristic, war torn world in which global infertility has been a crisis for nearly twenty years. The quality of the visuals and how they are shown has especially gained a great deal of attention since Children of Men’s release. One of the most striking elements of style in the film is the use of the long take achieved through uninterrupted tracking shots. The repetitive function of the long takes found throughout Children of Men is used to showcase the calm before the storm followed by the unexpected violence that erupts as it occurs in real time.

There are three primary long takes in Children of Men that follow a similar pattern. It should first be noted that Theo (Clive Owen), the hero of the film, is always present and that the camera faithfully follows him and documents his actions, as well as the actions of those who are within close vicinity. The second point is that each of these three takes begin by unfolding calmly and casually, without a hint of the presence of potential death. However, an awareness is in the air at the commencement of the third long take, but the characters do their best to avoid danger. Thus, one can conclude that the characters are merely going about their routine as the specific sequences progress. Transitionally, these moments are halted and then heightened by instantaneous violent acts. When the bloodshed concludes, the long take is brought to a close and the film cuts to another shot or scene. Another interesting point is that each long take is lengthier than that which preceded it, and that the chance of death increases with each subsequent take. Due to the fact that these harrowing scenes are depicted in real time, the viewer is offered the sensation of standing, sitting, or running beside Theo for the duration of the chaos.

The first elaborate long take, spanning fifty four seconds, unfolds prior to the appearance of the title card. The camera is initially situated over the counter of the overly crowded coffee shop, Caf fine, facing the doorway in the opposite corner of the opposite side of the room. Theo is centered in a medium shot. The cashier present off-screen hands Theo a cup of coffee. He then turns around to make his timely exit. As he is leaving, Theo, being tracked by the camera, weaves through the quiet gathering preoccupied with the breaking news of the death of the youngest person in the world. Theo turns left to stroll down the sidewalk after departing the coffee shop, but the camera is slow to do so. Instead, the camera takes a moment to examine the busy city street. A red double decker bus, symbolic of London, England, drives by and is the first noticeable characteristic of the world outside. After the bus passes, one can see the busy sidewalks, the street congested with vehicles, the dreary sky, and buildings masked with giant screens displaying the aforementioned breaking news. After taking it all in, the camera turns left and follows Theo down the sidewalk until he stops at a newspaper stand. He sets his coffee on the stand and the camera wraps around his body to face the opposite direction of the sidewalk. As soon as the camera pauses, Caf fine blaringly explodes. Startled, Theo thrusts the coffee into the air and backs away to the building behind, as depicted in Figure 1. The populace in front of the coffee shop can be seen diving out the way. As the smoke settles, the camera leaves Theo behind and tracks toward the coffee shop hastily in a jerky, handheld manner. A screaming woman without an arm emerges from the rubble; a truly haunting image. The film then cuts to the title card. One can argue that the purpose of this shot was to establish the bleak tone of Children of Men.

The entire claustrophobic car scene is a single take that lasts for more than four minutes. During the scene, the camera slithers within the confines of the interior of the car, which is being driven by Luke (Chiwetel Ejiofor) over a two lane road surrounded by wooded terrain. The shot opens with a medium close up of Theo, who is asleep while resting his head against the window of the back passenger side door. A hand reaches over from screen left to wake him up for snoring. After he wakens, the camera tracks a short distance backwards toward the location of the windshield. Miriam (Pam Ferris), who is sitting in the middle of the back seat and beside Theo, appears, as does Julian (Julianne Moore), who is placed in the passenger seat in front of Theo. The camera rests when everyone in the car is present on the screen, including Luke and Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), who is sitting behind him and beside Miriam. Miriam pulls out an orange and starts to eat it as Julian tells a story concerning her past relationship with Theo. The camera glides to the center of the car as Julian twists around in her seat to face Theo. With Theo positioned screen left and Julian positioned screen right, they play a game with a ping pong ball that ends with a kiss. Theo then jokingly spits the ping pong ball at Kee, with the camera swiftly tracking the ball’s flight. After the ball hits the window adjacent to Kee, the camera rotates one hundred and eighty degrees clockwise and freezes when the viewer can see outside of the windshield. A burning car suddenly rolls down the tree infested hill and crashes in the middle of the road, blocking their path. Luke stomps on the breaks and puts the car into reverse as the camera pans ninety degrees right, passing by a close up of Luke’s horrified face. A horde of angry maniacs armed with all types of weaponry swarm out in all directions from the forest en route for the car. Panning left, a man rams into the glass separating him from Kee, who is being held by Miriam. The camera continues to pan past Theo and, upon reaching Julian, a window splinters. Once the visual three hundred and sixty degree resolution is completed, a thrown Molotov cocktail bursts into flames on the car’s hood. The fire promptly dies down and a motorcyclist speeds past the raging gang and slows upon reaching the passenger side of the car. The motorcyclist then falls back to the front of the car in reverse. With Julian’s head and the pursuing motorcyclist in the frame, the motorcyclist shoots Julian in the neck, which tragically results in her death. The windshield cracks, Julian’s blood sprinkles onto the corner of the camera, which rapidly pans left to reach Theo. Theo leans forward and worriedly grabs Julian. The motorcyclist reappears on the screen and pulls up alongside Theo’s door. Without hesitation, Theo kicks the door open and into the motorcycle, causing the motorcycle to fly onto the hood of the car and crash on the pavement. The windshield finally shatters as Luke switches from reverse to forward drive. At this point, Theo’s hand applies pressure to Julian’s wounded neck. From seemingly out of nowhere, police cars rush by. However, the police decide to turn around while out of view. With all of the living characters visible on the screen, the flashing police cars can be seen through the back pane quickly approaching. Following procedure, Luke pulls over and stops the vehicle. The camera monitors the movement of two armed policemen as they advance to Luke. While in the frame, Luke draws his firearm and kills the cops without delay. Panning right past Kee and Miriam, Theo steps out of the car. The camera too exits via Julian’s passenger side door while tracking Theo. Luke and Theo engage in a quick argument before returning to the automobile. The viewer resides on the side of the road. After the car has driven out of sight, the camera pans right to focus on the corpses of the recently deceased police officers before the film carries on to another scene. The significance of this long take is that this is the first time that Theo has been brought into the chaos.

Jarring music plays over the beginning of the third long take, which inaugurates in a dark tunnel that does not feature a pictorial promising light at its end. This is the longest of all of the single shots, lasting for a period of over six minutes. The characters, including Theo, who is pushing Kee and her newly born daughter in a wheelchair, and Marichka (Oana Pellea) enter the frame from behind the camera and exit the tunnel. Siridian (Faruk Pruti), a friend of Marichka, is escorting the group. Siridian, the only of these characters who is armed, brandishes an automatic weapon. The camera tracks these heroes as they slowly and cautiously make their way to the street ahead. The uprising of Bexhill is underway, and the group pauses to watch the rebellious refugees run away from and open fire at British soldiers who return fire and chase them down. With a battle in progress that Theo and company do not want to be a part of, they cross the street the instant the coast is clear. The camera is low to the ground as if the cameraman is crouching, frantically tracking their armed leader. Theo, Marichka, and Kee stop to wait while Siridian tries to unlock a door, but before he is successful the Fishes run into frame and take them hostage. The angered, vengeful terrorist adorned with dreadlocks named Patric (Charlie Hunnam) punches Theo in the stomach with all of his might, knocking Theo to the ground. With everyone in the group being held at gunpoint by the Fishes, Luke and his men swiftly sprint into frame, preventing the immediate death of the hostages. Luke kneels to ask Kee about the safety of her child. Kee’s reply is realized by way of a spit in Luke’s face. Luke and his henchmen take off down the street, kidnapping both Kee and her baby. In the background, Luke grants Patric permission to execute Theo and his companions. With Theo, Marichka, and Siridian present in the foreground, the armed terrorist strolls toward them and shoots Siridian in the head. Before Patric can kill Theo or Marichka, soldiers off screen open fire on the terrorist assemblage. The terrorists return the favor, taking their attention away from Theo and Marichka. This provides them an opportunity to escape. This reverse tracking shot documents the duo’s travels down the bullet ridden street as they duck behind a car and then around the corner of a brick building. The camera pans to record Patric and his fellow terrorists flee past Theo’s position as they are being picked off. Marichka stays behind and Theo presses forward to retrieve Kee, keeping his back to the wall of the brick building. As soon as the gunfire ceases temporarily, Theo quickly traverses the street and dives for cover. A menacing tank can be briefly detected in the backdrop. The gunfire escalates yet again, and Theo veers around the corner. Theo heads down the street, which consists of injured innocents flocking to safety. Standing in plain view, the distant terrorists notice Theo and hurl bullets in his direction. Theo reacts by plunging into a ravaged bus that has been devolved into some sort of depressing shelter. Once inside the bus occupied with those in hiding, windows burst and drops of blood aggressively decorate the camera lens. The blood’s presence is more prominent than in the previous long take. Peering out of a window, both Theo and the viewer can see the terrorists run for cover in the building directly across the street. A tank blasts a hole in the wall next to the entrance of the building, ending the lives of a few terrorists. As the smoke clears, Theo darts with a newly obtained limp across the way and hides low to the ground in front of the brick wall. The blood stained camera remains planted at Theo’s eye level and photographs the instant death of a large quantity of people. The tank launches another crumbling assault on the building, and Theo scurries through the dusty and debris ridden entrance. The cameraman stops to wait for Theo to catch up. Inside, Theo trips over a dirty collection of corpses. A man blown in half is gurgling for help, but there is nothing that Theo can do. Theo is tracked as he ascends the stairway, passing dead bodies, strutting chickens, and horrified victims coughing. He searches the hallway and some of the rooms on the second floor, pausing only to hide behind a corner as he witnesses the death of Patric, who is shooting out of a window. A reverse tracking shot leads Theo down the hall and up the second flight of stairs to the third floor. Reaching the top, the sound of a crying baby can be heard. Theo finds Kee, who is protecting her child the best way that she can by holding her close, in a not-so-safe room that is lacking an outside wall. As Theo reaches over to grab Kee’s hand, a bullet sounds off and nearly takes off their hands. Theo stands Kee on her feet, puts his arm around her, and freezes whilst Luke, sitting in the background firing at the soldiers on the street below, calls out to them and aims his gun at their bodies. The long take unpredictably comes to a close, but the given scene is not over. Perhaps this shot ends in this manor because Theo now has Kee and her daughter in his guardian-like possession again.

The world that Children of Men vividly portrays is one that has come to know only violence. These long takes serve as a motif that defines the turmoil in a society that has lost hope, providing a documentary-like examination of chaos in full motion. The viewer is thrown into this insanity before the plot even initiates, forced to deal with whatever happens next. By expertly filming these sequences in such a way, the viewer becomes personally involved, as there are no flashy editing devices to take away from the experience. And death plays a more and more prominent role with each passing long take. For example, Julian dies early in the film during the car scene, just as the audience is getting to know her. The third long take described is a raging battle with a death toll that increases with each passing second. Theo is shot during the third long take, as well, which leads to his death at the film’s last scene. Therefore, the violent outbursts become more personal to Theo with each ensuing long take.

There is another long take in Children of Men which serves as an antithesis, occurring some time after Julian’s death. The subject of this three minutes and twenty seconds take in question is the birth of Kee’s daughter. Over the course of the scene, the camera never leaves the room offered as a safe house for Kee and Theo, and it does not scamper all over the place. The room is pitch black, but the door opens and a lantern in Marichka’s hand shines brightly. Kee lies down on the mattress on the floor and requests the departure of Marichka, who is oblivious to what is about to unfold. Theo grasps Marichka’s lantern before she makes her exit and places the lantern on a crate adjacent to Kee. He takes a second to breathe and washes his hands to prepare to deliver Kee’s baby. With the delivery underway, Theo coaches Kee, repeating the line, “Out and push.” Kee struggles and is victorious at giving birth. Theo cheerfully hands the baby to Kee, now a mother, and informs her that it is a girl. Unlike the other long takes in Children of Men, the scene ends with miraculous laughter.

Marichka’s lantern is representational of the birth scene in relation to the three brutal long takes. This tranquil single shot is the contradiction to the established long take motif, serving as a light shining in the darkness. A nativity in an infertile world gone mad gives hope to a society that lost hope a long time ago. It is the answer to the prayers of those dying left and right in the other long takes. It cannot be stressed enough that the Biblical Children of Men is a violent film. However, Children of Men’s core, or heart, is overflowing with hope and faith.

Bryan Nixon is currently a Film Studies major at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.