Children of Men

[Melanie]

Children of Men
By Melanie Box



I paid for the Gallery at my local UCI and felt quite honestly this was the best money I have spent in a long time at the cinema. The strength of the British Cinema scene at this time is brilliant.

The scene is set in the future - but not that far in the future that you can't actually imagine it. I won't spoil the film for you, but it sures gets you thinking. How much can one thing change a whole society, no hope, no future.

With an all star cast such as Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine, you know its a good starter for ten. Pam Ferris is also in a role you never thought she could pull off too (which she does). Michael Caine was soo the perfect person to play as Jasper you wait and see.

With Clive Owen playing the reluctant hero - that all animals seem to like (still trying to work out that one)- the photography is remarkable, Martin Scorsese eat ya heart out. The camera work is brilliant, you follow him around very closely and the realism is superb. I thought it actually started quite slowly but it made sense as it went along. I am quite certain I could watch this numerous times and learn more about the film each time. This is one film I will be buying just so I can see the making of it.

One thing that concerns me though. I hope they don't make a sequel, they are never as good.

Rating: 3/4 Stars


Another review for you:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/

69 out of 74 people found the following comment useful:-
Amazing Film. Truly fantastic! Mindblowing..., 2 September 2006
9/10
Author: green_fairy2

I've seen this film and let me tell everyone that it was one of the most pleasurable surprises I've ever had with a film. I hadn't heard about it before and it totally took me by surprise. It blew me away and left me speechless. The acting is excellent by most of the actors, but Michael Caine deserves to receive a special mention for his amazing portrait of the old hippie Jasper. His performance is fantastic and he totally stole the show in the scenes he was in. Claire Hope is also fantastic in the role of Kee. Her performance is quite impressive, especially considering this is one of her first films. Clive Owen is also great as the reluctant hero who sees his life turned upside down and is given a huge responsibility. I've seen him in some other films and he's at his best here. A very good performance, you could feel what he was going through. In the technical aspects the film was brilliant, particularly Alfonso Cuarón's strong and consistent direction that is one of the best things in the film, and contributes a lot to its quality. Also director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki does wonders with images and there are some extremely beautiful shots all done in a naturalistic way, natural lighting, etc. It's an extremely well crafted film that makes you go through the emotional struggle the characters go through and makes you feel that you're in the middle of it all. Besides, it's also an extremely touching story that certainly touched my heart. One of the best films I've ever seen without any doubt.

[jonmonk]

Yeah, I saw it too. I was surprised, it was much better than I was expecting.

[Mushroom]

I was very pleased with this movie.

It looked wonderful, long long one shot scenes. Any of you notice the blood on the camera during the shoot out? :p

Not much else I can really say about this movie that hasnt already been said.

But if you liked this then you'll like a comic alled Y the Last Man and other writings by Garth Ennis.

Pull my finger.

[Yossarian]

Great film, I have to agree totally with the above reviews.

But if you liked this then you'll like a comic alled Y the Last Man and other writings by Garth Ennis

It made me think of that comic while I was watching it, not written by Garth Ennis though.

[Zealot]

The only problem I had with the story was that no one was even trying to find out why there are no more babies being born.What caused it?And why haven't there been any advances in cloning?It seems everyone in the world just threw up their arms and said,"Oh,well.Let's just sit around and go extinct."

I used to read Y The Last Man,which I believe was inspired by a made-for-cable movie called The last Man on Planet earth.The movie was bad,but the comic started out very scary,but became muddled in dark humor and character flaws.

[Zealot]

The question on my mind was,why isn't anyone even trying to figure out the cause of this infertility?It seems no one is even curious why nobody is having babies.And nobody is looking into cloning.Why is that?
And what is everyone fighting over?

I used to read Y The last man,but I lost interest in it after it got too satirical.

[Mr Punch]

I agree with Melanie. This was a pleasant surprise, especially since I think Clive Owen is vastly overrated. The movie was dark, very very realistic, and not at all glossy, yet managed to avoid all the documentary style cliches.

Excellent direction. Just enough of everything... especially the violence, which was not enough to desensitize but graphic enough to sicken.

As for the question as to why people hadn't researched enough... I'm not sure that that was the case. The movie isn't explicit about a lot of the back story... there were brief flashes of headlines and references about mass disease, nuclear accidents/wars, famine, the ever-present terrorism: I would assume that it had been investigated to the limit of the remaining developed world's resources. The news programme near the beginning about the youngest kid mentioned that the reasons were unknown too. There is no reason to spell everything out - you've been too Hollywoodized! :D

[0gmios]

The question on my mind was,why isn't anyone even trying to figure out the cause of this infertility?It seems no one is even curious why nobody is having babies.And nobody is looking into cloning.
This just points out the time in which the book was written, 1992. Back then cloning was not a popular science thing like it is now; hence it was not big in the sci-fi genre. However, there is talk of people trying to figure out what is going on. But does that mean the whole world should stop and become scientists to find out what is going on? As a scientist I say yes, but I doubt Joe Bob next door agrees. So the movie focuses on those who are trying to lead "normal lives". It is about those who blame the government, fighting back about there bleak situation they are faced with, and about as institution trying to maintain law and more importantly, order in this time were suicide, as an option, is advertised on the TV. Could these people be more help trying to find a cure or a cause? Yes, but they are anarchists, that is there character, in the given situation they chose to rebel, most likely due to fear of what is to come. And like most, they are looking for someone to blame.

Why is that?
And what is everyone fighting over?
England has become the only "land of the free", everyone wants in, because everywhere else has gone to 'hell in a hand basket'. The refugees are a problem that the British government is trying to control. But the point is, even they are people, since it is one of them who gets pregnant...
The anarchists believe that the government will cover up who the baby belongs to, and see it as a totem for their battle against the government. Only Julian, and then Theo, actual care about what the baby means, a cure. But they must move between the over zealous government and rebels to ensure the survival of man.