Alfonso Cuaron

Alfonso Cuaron, Director of “Children of Men”

The director was born in Mexico on 18^th November 1961. He always knew he wanted to be a director and when finally receiving a camera at the age of 12, he began filming everything. Cuaron studied the cinema throughout his education to university where he met friends who would help his career later in life. The director has created many successful pieces of moving image including an adaptation of the book “Great Expectations” as well as directing “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.”

Alfonso Cuaron, the director of “Children of Men” interestingly didn’t read the book (P.D James) before creating the film because he was drawn to the theme of fertility. He thought this could act as a metaphor for the fading sense of hope. It “could be a point of departure for an exploration of the state of things that we’re living in now, the things that are shaping this vary first part of the 21^st century.” He decided to kill off certain characters early on in the film to convey the insecurity of life, it took away the preconception that the journey the audience will go on while watching the film will be ok and the main character is the hero. Another major theme in this film is democracy- the way in which civilians and immigrants are treated is due to the public, not a specific person, subverting the usual causes for mass dysfunction in society.