Hope among despair

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2007)

Gritty, dark, heavy, deep, real, and I can't over-emphasize the word real. There are just a few, and an extremely limited few adjectives that I would use to describe this movie. "Children of Men" is rich with symbolism, not too much unlike the movie "V for Vendetta", but many times better. Where "V for Vendetta" was an artsy poetic way of depicting a grim future, "Children of Men" took a more direct, realistic, in your face route. I had to ask myself was I watching a movie about the future of the western world or present day Iraq, Palestine, or Afghanistan?
This may very well have been an extremist view of the future, but it was presented in such a gripping and veritable manner that it could not be dismissed as fiction or extremism. The war scenes were done so magnificently, they were like an embedded cameraman was following one of the battle participants. The fight scenes were captured in such a realistic manner that at one point the camera lens even had blood and dirt on it. But more important than the visual capturing of the happenings of this movie are the emotions and atmosphere captured through the happenings on screen. A lot of focus was placed upon immigration, terrorism, and of course, Islam's role in it all. It really posed the question of what was doing more harm: the immigrants and the "terrorists" (who could range from mere protesters on up to actual gun wielding killers) or the government and the laws and practices they put in place. Without doubt, Kee's child was a symbol of hope for all of humanity. With darkness, infertility, and hopelessness all around, a single woman was able to give birth after 18 years of no known births. So, even as tormenting and utterly depressing the future was, hope did exist. Whereas this movie showed the perilous route mankind is on and the fateful demise we could meet, it also showed that there is always hope. As one of the interviewees in the bonus features stated, hope exists when there is despair.