A strong contender for film of the year

Rating: 9/10 (2 October 2006)

Let's not beat around the bush here, children are a pain in the backside. Sure, to the parents they might be angelic little beauties wrapped in swaddling clothes with the most adorable sparkling eyes, but to the rest of us they are the tantrum throwing hell spawn that make grocery shopping and bus journeys a thing of misery. But what if they suddenly ceased to be? If women up and down the country started having miscarriages and the pregnancy rate plummeted until it dwindled away to nothing? How long would we last before giving way to utter chaos? This is the premise of Children of Men, a film that manages to encapsulate a whirlwind of emotions in the course of its running time and emerges as one of the most thought-provoking cinema releases in a long time.
Set in Britain in 2027, the opening scene is one of sledgehammer like subtlety. Our protagonist Theo (Clive Owen) wanders into a coffee shop to catch a news report on the death of the world's youngest human being. He buys a drink and ignoring the crowd milling around the television, wanders back outside when the relative tranquillity of the scene is abruptly ended when the coffee house and everyone within it is decimated by the blast of a terrorist bomb, followed by screams and the disturbing sight of a woman stumbling out holding her severed arm in one hand. And from here onwards, your attention is fixed.
This is a Britain not unlike that seen in V For Vendetta. In the face of social anarchy where activist groups promote their ideologies by blowing up civilians, the Government has responded in true Orwellian style. The pretence of Democracy having long been abandoned, we instead have a world of black suited riot police with machine guns marching in unison beneath the billboards encouraging the civilian mass to report on their neighbours the instant they show any sign of unusual behaviour. One especially jarring moment comes when Theo steps off a train and casually walks past several cages containing East Europeans who have all been rounded up, a moment that is alarming simply for the sense of how normal it is. With violent mobs attacking vehicles for no specific reason accompanied by the surrealism of an early view of a big inflatable pig hovering above an industrial estate, one of the film's many strong points is in crafting a wholly believable world during these initial scenes. It is a chaotic world where dystopic oppression meets indiscriminate violence and it sucks you in completely, frightening in how close it seems.
But things really step up a gear when the main crux of the plot arrives. Abducted by his ex-wife's activist group, Theo finds himself meeting with the world's only pregnant woman and soon becomes embroiled in a mission to escort her to the coast to meet up with the Human Project, a shadowy secret organisation who will be able to shelter her and possibly save the whole human race in the process. Hounded at all turns by those who want to use Kee (the magnificent Claire-Hope Ashitey) and her baby for their own ends, Theo's initial reluctance to get involved transforms into a stubborn determination to protect her at all costs and their quest makes for gripping viewing.
Holding all this together is a combination of documentary-style film making and some brilliant performances from all involved. Unlike most major releases, the camera is more of a passive bystander and the focus is on a realistic portrayal. There is no dramatic panning or ham-fisted slow motion at all and this calmer, less intrusive approach allows everything to seem more real.
And speaking of real, Clive Owen deserves a wealth of praise for his central performance as Theo. He has foregone all pretence of Hollywood glamour and seeing his unshaven, haggard form when it first shuffles on screen it's hard to believe that this is the same man who played Dwight in Sin City. Throughout the course of the film, he provides the audience with a highly sympathetic figure to cling onto. He cries, he bleeds, he even breaks down at one point and his attempts to guide Kee are bereft of any action hero melodrama. As a result, he is so indescribably human that you'd have to possess a heart of stone not to root for him. The aforementioned Claire-Hope Ashitley meanwhile puts in a performance that should hopefully elevate her profile and grant her more roles. For want of a better word, she is fantastic. Kee is at times strong and cynical with a bitter sense of humour about her but altogether very vulnerable and couldn't be more convincing if she tried.
This is accompanied by a divertingly cheerful performance by Michael Caine as an ageing hippie who is intent on seeing out the end of the world with a smile, a mountain of cannabis and Ruby Tuesday on the record player. He adds a light touch that provides a welcome break from all the nightmarish scenarios we get elsewhere. What's more, there's another brief but powerful turn from the criminally under appreciated Chiwetel Ejiofor who must surely be one of the acting world's best kept secrets.
As a whole then, Children of Men is a commanding piece of art. It creates an enthralling world of humanity under incredible pressure, but does so without over-indulging or playing to the camera. And if there is to be one moment that sums up the entire film, it comes near the finale as Theo and Kee stumble out of a shattered apartment block with the baby wrapped up next to her mother's chest. Corpses line the streets and rubble is strewn everywhere and for a moment, the war-zone grows calm as soldiers and activists alike lower their weapons as the realisation of what has become of mankind sinks in before someone pulls a trigger again and the carnage continues. Highly recommended.