Lyzsi SinclairChildren of Men
Children of Men (2006)
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Pam Ferris
Children of Men is as bleak a dystopian future as can be imagined. The year is 2027, and worldwide political upheaval, war and sieges have rendered Britain the only remaining organised country in the world. Thousands of refugees, or ‘”fugees,” risk their lives in their attempts to breach the impenetrable police-state borders of England for a chance at life; albeit a miserable life among the chaos, crime and poverty that has overtaken the country. Those who make it are pressed into cages like cattle and transferred to Bexhill, which has been transformed into a monumental refugee camp.
Amid the violence and disorder, the world has a bigger issue. It is coming to an end, due to an infertility that has seen no babies born in the past 18 years. Theories abound regarding the cause of the infertility, and while religious fanatics blame the sins of mankind for the affliction, rumours suggest that a scientific entity called the ‘Human Project’ exists that will save mankind from its seemingly impending doom.
When former activist – now alcoholic and numbed government employee – Theo (Clive Owen) is kidnapped by an underground political group led by his ex-girlfriend, the lure of money he sorely needs is enough to convince him to illegally help a fugee get to safety. When the immigrant, Kee (played by Clare-Hope Ashitey) reveals to him that she is pregnant, Theo’s mission takes on an importance that eventually breaks through his apathy. Pursued on all sides by those who want to use Kee and her baby for their own aims, Theo tries to protect his charge and transport her to the safety of the Human Project, despite the fact that he is not entirely convinced that it exists.
Children of Men is starkly apocalyptic in its portrayal of a dystopian, chaotic and violent future. And yet, this is all too familiar. A bomb in a café, an aging mother crying for the dead son on her lap, non-citizens treated like dogs, gunshots and blood and screams, and nobody knows who is right or wrong anymore. This is futuristic only because it is set in Britain. These events already occur on a daily basis around the world.
Depressed yet? This is a confronting film, and you will likely not skip from the cinema. But Cuaron does not shy from some dark – and to some, probably darkly inappropriate – humour in Children of Men. It’s certainly no laugh-fest, but scattered lighter moments skillfully make the rest of the film, in all its intensity, more bearable. Michael Caine, as Theo’s aging, pot-smoking hippy friend Jasper, brilliantly brings some unforced humour to Children of Men. Even dystopian thrillers with high body counts can do with the odd fart joke.
8.5 out of 10
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Pam Ferris
Photo courtesy of Google. Photo may be copyrighted.
Children of Men is as bleak a dystopian future as can be imagined. The year is 2027, and worldwide political upheaval, war and sieges have rendered Britain the only remaining organised country in the world. Thousands of refugees, or ‘”fugees,” risk their lives in their attempts to breach the impenetrable police-state borders of England for a chance at life; albeit a miserable life among the chaos, crime and poverty that has overtaken the country. Those who make it are pressed into cages like cattle and transferred to Bexhill, which has been transformed into a monumental refugee camp.
Amid the violence and disorder, the world has a bigger issue. It is coming to an end, due to an infertility that has seen no babies born in the past 18 years. Theories abound regarding the cause of the infertility, and while religious fanatics blame the sins of mankind for the affliction, rumours suggest that a scientific entity called the ‘Human Project’ exists that will save mankind from its seemingly impending doom.
When former activist – now alcoholic and numbed government employee – Theo (Clive Owen) is kidnapped by an underground political group led by his ex-girlfriend, the lure of money he sorely needs is enough to convince him to illegally help a fugee get to safety. When the immigrant, Kee (played by Clare-Hope Ashitey) reveals to him that she is pregnant, Theo’s mission takes on an importance that eventually breaks through his apathy. Pursued on all sides by those who want to use Kee and her baby for their own aims, Theo tries to protect his charge and transport her to the safety of the Human Project, despite the fact that he is not entirely convinced that it exists.
Children of Men is starkly apocalyptic in its portrayal of a dystopian, chaotic and violent future. And yet, this is all too familiar. A bomb in a café, an aging mother crying for the dead son on her lap, non-citizens treated like dogs, gunshots and blood and screams, and nobody knows who is right or wrong anymore. This is futuristic only because it is set in Britain. These events already occur on a daily basis around the world.
Depressed yet? This is a confronting film, and you will likely not skip from the cinema. But Cuaron does not shy from some dark – and to some, probably darkly inappropriate – humour in Children of Men. It’s certainly no laugh-fest, but scattered lighter moments skillfully make the rest of the film, in all its intensity, more bearable. Michael Caine, as Theo’s aging, pot-smoking hippy friend Jasper, brilliantly brings some unforced humour to Children of Men. Even dystopian thrillers with high body counts can do with the odd fart joke.
8.5 out of 10
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