How does Alfonso Cuaron represent Britain in Children of Men?

Alfonso Cuaron is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, known for his films Children of Men and his part in the world famous Harry Potter series, directing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaba. His portrayal of life of the human race when faced with their impending doom was praised by many film critics; but how did he do this, and mainly how did he represent Britain in the year 2027?

Cuaron uses another film of the same genre to influence and develop the location of Children Of Men, A Clockwork Orange. A Clockwork Orange helped contribute to the futuristic, yet battered look of London in 2027. The director decided to portray the city as a character in itself, showing the importance of the location to the film to help tell the story, help the audience to realise that they city is London (with the use of red buses helping this theory), and to help the audience to work out what has happened to Britain, not just London, from 2006 when the film was released to 2027 when the film is based. The technique that Cuaron has used is shooting single, wide shots of the city, presenting different aspects of London. Cuaron chose to shoot some of the scenes in east London, a location which he considered to be "a place without glamour". The set locations were dressed to make them appear even more run-down, with Cuaron reporting saying that he wanted to have a ‘Mexican’ look to them, symbolizing the poverty that is in Mexico. The use of special effects was needed to complete the look of London, with footage of London streets needing to be changed. London special effects companies Double Negative and Framestore helped and worked with Cuaron from script to post production, developing effects and creating environments and shots that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

Single-shot sequences are used quite frequently in Children of Men, mainly quite lengthy and during extremely complex actions take place. The longest of these is the shot when Kee gives birth to the miracle baby lasting 199 seconds (3 minutes 19 seconds); an ambush on a country road lasting 247 seconds (4 minutes 7 seconds); and a scene in which Theo is captured by the Fishes, escapes, and runs down a street and through a building in the middle of a raging battle lasting a lengthy 454 seconds (7 minutes 34 seconds). These sequences were extremely difficult to film taking days to get ready for the shoot and taking 5 hours if they need to re-shoot; although the effect of continuity is sometimes an illusion, aided by CGI effects. The scenes are then seen as rather ‘random’, this symbolizes with the events of Britain in 2027, where people are panicking at the threat of the extinction of the human race. These events include the sudden crack down on immigration in Britain.