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Children of Men
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Clive Owen
Genre:
Science Fiction
Run Time: 109
min.
Release Date:
December 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
After watching CHILDREN
OF MEN, a very strange thing happened to me in the twenty-four hours
since seeing it: I’m actually growing to appreciate the film more and
more every minute. That’s a distinct strength of this film over others
that are trying to crowd it out for your almighty box-office buck.
There’s no instant gratification, no sex/nudity just for their own sake,
no violence for the sake of violence (although there’s plenty in here,
it’s just threaded into the story exceptionally well).
Based on P.D. James’ novel by the same name, Children of Men
focuses on the death of birth in the year 2027. That is, the sudden and
unexplained infertility of all women (and possibly men). Birth rates
rapidly hit the zero mark, playgrounds fall into ruin, and mankind
decides that war is the only answer. This is an interesting paradox as
the premise is on the fact that men will fight over anything, including
the death of life. Some sort of inherent gene is sparked in mankind
whenever a perceived loss is fixated upon (democracy, oil, land, etc.),
and when children disappear from that equation, it’s time to pull out
the gun. This isn’t stated specifically in the film, per se, except for
once when Theo (Clive Owen, the main character) and Miriam (Pam Ferris,
a nurse) are looking out at a defunct swing-set and Miriam comments on
how much the world misses the sound of children. “We never knew how much
we’d miss that sound,” she says. And so the loss is given mention just
this once, but is “felt” throughout the movie.
But all is not gloom and doom. Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) is the only
pregnant woman on the planet and is hidden away by an underground
network of freedom fighters who’s main goal is to try and gain rights
for illegal aliens in Great Britain (many nations have closed their
borders in order to prevent the spread of any possible infection that
might be causing the infertility). Julian (Julianne Moore) is the leader
of these fighters and approaches Theo in order to obtain traveling
papers for Kee (Theo having family that can access to such things).
Initially Theo refuses, but money enters into it as does Theo’s own
curiosity toward Julian (they were once married and had a child who’d
died during a flu pandemic). Initially Theo is unaware of Kee’s
pregnancy, too, and once he learns of it you can see on his face the
sense of importance that this new life might bring to mankind. Theo
plods on through war-torn streets, pulling Kee along with him in an
attempt to make it to “The Human Project.” This project is never fully
explained but enough clues are dropped to infer that this is the one
place where babies might be born. Kee and Theo must make it to a ship
off the coast of Britain in order to secure Kee’s safe passage. But
death lurks around every corner for Theo, Kee, and her baby. Everyone
who comes into contact with this trio eventually dies off, denoting the
need for death in order for new life to spring forth. From Michael
Cain’s pot-smoking persona as Theo’s oldest friend, to Julianne Moore’s
forced martyrdom, no one seems able to escape the clutches of death that
surround Kee and this unborn child. Maybe even Theo, our main character.
The biggest strength of the film is the screenplay. It seems to have
been very well thought out, letting the audience run through the film
with the characters rather than forcibly monologuing information to us.
The acting is good and the stark city streets are achingly morbid in
appearance (shot using lots of gray color), giving the viewer the
ability to see and feel humanity’s decline.
As stated earlier, this isn’t your instant gratification-style flick
that’ll have you applauding at the end. It hits the watcher deep down on
a visceral and subconscious level, an appreciative ember that’ll grow
the further away one gets from the theater.
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Image from Children of Men
DVD cost: $14.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Michael Caine's character
plays an award winning political cartoonist. In his house you can see
some of his cartoons in the background, these are drawn by Steve Bell,
an award winning political cartoonist for The Guardian newspaper.
Movie Quote: "I
can't really remember the last time I heard any hope."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Children of Men
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