Children of Men

Plot synopsis:
On November 16th, 2027, a brief newscast (done by newsreaders Mishal Husain & Rob Curling) reports on the state of the world: women have become infertile and no children have been born for 18 years. Most of the world's societies have collapsed and in Britain all foreigners have been declared illegal immigrants and are rounded up by British military forces to be deported. Additionally, the youngest person in the world, the Argentine Baby Diego (Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi), has been murdered by one of his fans when he refused to give them an autograph. The newscast is watched by a crowd in a coffee shop.Theo Faron (Clive Owen), leaves the coffee shop and stops to add liquor to his coffee when the shop is blown up by a bomb. The act is attributed to an underground guerrilla group, the Fishes. Theo is shaken by the incident and leaves work early to visit his friend, Jasper (Michael Caine), who lives outside London. Jasper, a former political activist, now lives in seclusion in a well-hidden house with his catatonic wife, Janice (Philippa Urquhart), growing variants of cannabis.The next day Theo is captured by The Fishes and is reunited with his former wife, Julian, who leads the group. She and Theo have not seen each other for nearly 20 years after their son, Dylan, died in a flu epidemic. She first tells him that the Fishes were not responsible for the bombing of the cafe the previous day. She also asks for his help in securing transit papers; Theo's cousin, Nigel (Danny Huston), has influence within the government. Theo is able to get the papers but they specifically state that Theo himself must accompany the refugee they are meant for. Theo agrees and he joins Julian (Julianne Moore), her associate Luke (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the refugee Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) and her midwife, Miriam (Pam Ferris) as they drive to the southern coast of England. Along the way, they are attacked in a forested area by a large mob and Julian is killed. As they flee the scene of the attack, they are pulled over by the police. When asked for their papers, Luke kills both policemen. A small funeral is held in the forest for Julian and Luke drives them to a safe house on a farm after finding another car.At the farm, Kee, reveals to Theo that she is eight months pregnant. She also tells Theo that Julian had told Kee that she could only trust Theo. The Fishes hold a meeting to decide what to do with Kee. They conclude, despite Theo's objections, that Kee should stay with them until the child is born. Theo thinks the pregnancy should be made public, the Fishes think that the British government would seize both Kee and the baby for their own political ends. Kee agrees to stay in the custody of the Fishes.Later that night, Theo awakens to a commotion outside. Two of the men who attacked the travelers that day have come to the safe house, one of them badly wounded. Theo discovers that the attack on the car and Julian's murder were both arranged by Luke and the Fishes, who wish to use the baby for their own ends. They plan to kill Theo the next day. He quietly awakes Kee and Miriam and convinces them to leave with him. They steal a car and narrowly escape the farm. Theo takes them to Jasper's house. While there, Jasper promises to arrange for Kee to meet a ship called the Tomorrow, a vessel belonging to a group called the Human Project, a collection of scientists based in the Azores off Portugal, and dedicated to restoring human fertility. Jasper arranges for his friend, Syd, to help Kee, Miriam and Theo enter the immigrant camp at Bexhill. From there, they will make arrangements for Kee to slip into the waters near Bexhill to meet the Tomorrow.The Fishes find Jasper's hidden home, setting off the alarms. Jasper lets Theo take his car and gives them an escape route. From a nearby bluff, Theo watches as Jasper refuses to give the Fishes any information and is cruelly murdered by Luke. Before the Fishes arrival, Jasper had euthanized his wife and dog.Theo drives himself and his charges to a nearby school to hide out and wait for Syd. While there, Miriam talks of her past work as a midwife and the onset of female infertility 18 years prior. A guard arrives, acting very intimidating at first, but takes the fugitives in his truck to Bexhill once they say the password. As they approach the detention center, Kee goes into labor. When they arrive, Miriam, while trying to protect Kee from the guards, fakes religious mania and is taken off the bus, hooded and detained, however, her fate is not revealed. Theo and Kee manage to enter Bexhill with her pregnancy undetected and meet a woman named Marichka who takes them to a dingy room. Right after they reach the room, Kee gives birth to a girl.The next morning they are met by Marichka and Syd, who tells them about an uprising that has taken over Bexhill. The Fishes have broken into the city and the national guard have been called out to restore control. Both Syd and Marichka (Oana Pellea) are astonished to see the baby. Syd, having seen Theo on television the night before, plans to turn him in for a large reward, Theo being a prime suspect from the attack on the road. With Marichka's help, they escape from Syd and find a temporary haven with Marichka's people. Marichka is also supposed to take them to a boat that will get them to the Tomorrow in Bexhill's harbor.Theo, Marichka and Kee enter the city and are quickly found by Luke and his cohorts. They take Kee and her baby and leave Theo and Marichka to be executed by Patric (Charlie Hunman), one of Luke's lieutenants. They are able to escape when a skirmish erupts nearby. Theo goes looking for Kee, finding her in a decrepit apartment building which is under fire from the military. Theo finds Kee with Luke, who is firing at the British forces outside. As Theo attempts to take Kee and the baby out, Luke opens fire in Theo's direction -- Luke is killed a few moments later. As Theo and Kee walk out of the building, everyone who sees the baby stands in awe and the fighting stops, many of them break into prayer. The two walk outside the building and begin to walk away. The fighting resumes. They find their way back to Marichka and the rowboat she's holding for them and float out into Bexhill's harbor. Marichka refuses to leave with them and pushes the boat out.The two make it out to a nearby buoy which marks the rendezvous point. As they wait, jets fly overhead and begin a bombardment of Bexhill. Kee sees blood in the bottom of the boat and panics, thinking it's hers. Theo tells her he was hit in the abdomen when Luke shot at him. Theo has just enough time to teach Kee how to burp the baby and she tells him that she'll name her after Theo's son, Dylan. Theo loses consciousness just as the Tomorrow arrives. Just before the closing credits roll the sound of children laughing is heard.

Tags: mystery, neo noir, murder, depressing, realism, bleak, allegory, violence, cult, thought-provoking, atmospheric, romantic, sci-fi

Review:
It's a cinéphile's dream come true; it's a masterpiece in the true sense of the word.'Children of Men' is a gut-wrenching look at an all too possible future, but it also works as a heart-stopping, adrenaline-rush-inducing piece of entertainment featuring some of the most breathtaking camera work you'll ever see.The performances are flawless.
P D James, the "Baroness of Bad" is famous for her well-written and absorbing police procedural novels ("Inspector Dalgliesh") but in the early 90s she produced a vision of a world only 20 years into the future in which for unspecified reasons all the women on earth have become infertile and no babies have been born for the last 18 years.The rest of the world has lapsed into chaos but the British, stoically, have put the remainder of their civil liberties into the fire and have settled down under an oppressive dictatorship to ward off foreign boarders and await inevitable extinction, though there are some violent dissidents called the fish.Theo (Clive Owen), a journalist with connections to the top, is "persuaded" by his ex-wife and fish member Julian (Julianne Moore) to obtain some exit papers for Kee (Claire Hope Ashity) a young black woman, who, it turns out, is pregnant.
The motley characters he meets along the way  his ex-wife, the fish rebels, the refugees who help him, the "fascist pig" border guard and above all Michael Caine's aging hippie are all wonderfully realized.It has been suggested that Cuaron has really made a film about today, not 20 years into the future.
Of all the visions of the future movie audiences have been treated to over the past few years, the world of Children of Men may be the most frightening and allegorically effective yet.Directed by Alfonso Cauron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), and set in 2027 London, the film takes place at a time when the planet is in the grip of an infertility crisis.
The film blew away nearly everyone in the audience as one of the best action movies we have seen lately, with extremely exciting and brutal chases, gun fights, etc.
Again, a clear reference to todays world.This is an outstanding piece of film making, I agree totally with previous reviewers comments, especially regarding the battle scenes, which have an immediacy, bringing to mind COME AND SEE or APOCALYPSE NOW.
"Children of Men" does this better than most, since -- with the exception of the infertility theme -- it does not highly disconnect us from what our future is likely to be.Other than that, however, the movie lacks what it was claimed to be; it is not "Bladerunner" Redux -- not even close.
*Truly Amazing that someone would spent enormous amounts of money on expensive filming equipment only to make the actual picture look like it was shot by my Uncle Fred (who has Parkinson's) who just got his Handicam yesterday for Christmas and is still working his way through the manual which is written in Chinese and which apparently only describes how to deprive the picture of colour.In Children of men subtlety was not allowed.
The overemphasized way of portraying such a dull and drab doomsday landscape as was done in Children of Men, surely would bother anyone who is not into cartoonistic film-making but in stead likes some subtlety on any subject matter if indeed this is presented in a serious movie.
Seriously, you'd think all these glowing reviews and those on this website, were written by people who had somehow managed to miss the entirety of Western cinema.The gourmet-fare that is Children of men is actually a night out at the McDonald's of film-making where the second bite of your food is already spoiling the experience of the first.
Like the headline-reading buffoons or game-console addicts they are.Shame, especially to the professional moviecritics who along their careers surely must have seen movies like The Usual Suspects for plot and suspense, Full Metal Jacket for steadycam cinematography, It happened One Night for social commentary and God knows how many other quality films that have been produced over the years.No, these movies were in fact never made.
Caine's cameo was the odd one out and made me feel like watching a completely different movie every time he's making an appearance.Good story/complex story.
Yeah sure, if you consider vapid and cliché open endings which didn't give the film some sort of closure it desperately needed a dramatic ending, then by all means people...The movie seems to want us to see a possible world future, and that's all fine.
The same goes for the motivations of most of the characters in the movie.Sure, most mainstream productions hit us over the head with exposition making such productions not very challenging to watch, but to simply reverse it and unaffectedly explain nothing is just the opposite side of the coin and equally insipid even if it was shot from a first person perspective.
By God, I think not.I think I speak for the four of us who saw this movie tonight that we were all totally underwhelmed considering the acclaim and current ranking of Children of Men. The acting felt labored, especially by Caine whom we adore, the script embarrassingly poor in places, nothing really profound or philosophical to sink your teeth in and the ending, if one could call it that, was unimaginative and completely devoid of any intelligence to it.
At best it's a silly reminder of things we learn in school at age 10 and up or see in the news every time we turn the telly on.The film itself plays out like a big formulaic chase in which our protagonists, mainly Theo (Clive Owen) and a black pregnant woman, 'mysteriously' named Kee (Claire Hope Ashity), are chased down by a terrorist group named The Fishes who want the soon to be born child for themselves in order tocuddle it?
The symbolism and churlish nods to contemporary issues is far too conspicuous and highly annoying as such (The one captured immigrant they allow to be heared, speaks German!, yeah, let's deport a former Nazi...seriously people, who writes this stuff?) And the logic of the plot that a single baby/person will be able to save the world in a movie that is supposed to have a serious message, is, to put it kindly, ludicrous, puerile and as original as a beer commercial.Although there is some fancy camera-work and editing in especially the last segment of the movie (a Kubrick homage?), I would not go as far as recommending this movie for just that bit alone as others have suggested.
And many many complaints, along the lines of "I will never again believe a movie reviewer."And by the way, since the sequence and plot are rushed and over-edited, why such a short film for the eleven bucks I paid per ticket tonight.
CHILDREN OF MEN is a fairly good futuristic drama --- with holes in its story a mile wide --- most of the premise unexplained and unresolved --- relatively unsuccessful at the box office; yet it becomes one of IMDb's All Time 250 --- and with a number of votes out-of-proportion to the number of people who have seen the picture.When I rented the DVD last night, they had over 20 copies of this film whereas most other new releases were all checked out.Results on IMDb will always be biased, as are the box office figures that reflect huge success of recent films with their $10 admissions mixed in with older films when admissions were 50 cents or less --- with no adjustment to constant dollars.
Children of Men starts off looking like it'll be a rarity, a good Clive Owen film.
And that end looks weirdly like a setup for Owen's next movie where he once again plays bodyguard to a baby people want to kill.
I've read so much hype and positive comments on this film before watching, and regretfully, it did not live up to the expectations.The film starts with an interesting, original basic story point: a future where the human race has become sterile.
I would be interested to know why those who made this movie felt compelled to make these changes - the story P.D. James wrote was excellent the way it was - and what the author herself thinks of this film.
Theo is a character who goes through a complete transformation as he deals with the people he meets (such as Julian, whose role in the book is central to the plot and she certainly is not a terrorist, but instead the first woman to bear a child in 25 years).
The words are constructed to move things along not build character and situations.I know part of the problem is changes from the book (which I haven't read) Julianne Moore's character is actually two characters combined, and there are other changes that probably didn't help.Again its not bad, its just not one of the best films of the year, technically maybe, and certainly Michael Caine should be up for an Oscar, but the story as told on screen doesn't amount to much..
Animals in Children of Men. All the important points about this film have been well covered by other reviewers, so I would like instead to draw your attention to a smaller sub text that is well worth keeping an eye on within the film's wider themes: Animals are utilized in incredibly effective ways in this film, from the horror of watching piles of burning cattle carcasses in the countryside (drawing our attention to environmental / food disasters) to Theo's surreal encounter with a startled deer within a long abandoned school (reminding us we now exist in a world where the teaching of the next generation is no longer an issue).
Also do not expect to have to think anytime during or after the movie.Children of Man's story ignores so much the fertility issue that it could be easily transplanted to any other war-like/runaway context without major adaptations (besides the motive of the runaway, which by the say is no big deal at all).The reason for the movie's background of a chaotic society is also left blank.
It has taken me 13 years to get round to watching Children of Men and I have to say, it's an absolute masterclass in film making - the execution is astonishing (cinematography, sound design/soundtrack, set design, etc) and it's arguably quite scary in the way it paints a somewhat feasible vision of our future.The acting and characters in this film are very grounded which reels you in and makes me feel invested.
This central conceit is mildly interesting, but the screenwriters populate the allegorical fiction with stock characters: people and ideas painted with broad strokes and little development, and peppered with quirky side-stories and characters who are often more interesting than the overly symbolic main plot line.What emerges is quasi-entertaining movie bubbling over with overcooked details and a few good scenes.
Despite three really good scenes, "Children of Men" unfortunately solidifies Cuaron's status as the best director yet to make a great film..
The premise is introduced very well as everywhere people are mourning the death of the world's youngest person - watching the future disappear before their eyes.This film does convey the look and feel of the above quite well through credible character exchanges and technical work.
However, the film's potential is hampered by the story - Theo (Clive Owen) trying to secretly transport a miraculously pregnant woman to the shadowy 'The Human Project,' who they have to trust have her best interests at heart as opposed to the openly brutal and corrupt government.
Very good support cast such as Michael Caine , Pam Ferris , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Charlie Hunnam , Danny Huston , Julianne Moore and cameo by P.D. James: author of the book 'The Children of Men' plays the old woman in the cafeteria with Theo .Colorful and evocative cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki , Alfonso Cuaron's ordinary .
However, at the end you are left thinking "what was all that for and what happened next?".It's almost as if somebody scripted a great story about a dystopian future and somebody else was briefed to strip all the interesting stuff away and leave a fairly brainless 'damsel in distress' film in its place.
This is my kind of genre and I love Owen and many of the other actors in this movie, so to watch them read poor dialogue like this and act un-actable scenes was painful.
It seems that a lot of people went to see this film not expecting much and were pleasantly surprised by its intelligence and non-derivative execution.However, having seen that this film was in the IMDb top 250 I came to it with somewhat higher hopes and came away slightly let down.The plot is fine in so far as it goes and there are some nicely done set pieces - the giant shoot out among the street ruins is particularly impressive and realistic - but really the only outstanding performance is from Michael Caine.
The look of the film is good as is some of the plot and music, however the acting of the main characters and a lot of the script is weak.
The story was dull and uninspired, the near future world that it was set in was cliché and the action, if you can call it that, was pathetic.Clive Owens performance was good, but even a talented actor like him could not save this film.The only reasonable explanation for all these rave reviews is that these people want to sound like high brow critics praising a crap-fest like this for its "fine cinematography ".Don't waste your time with this film..
It's just so difficult to get into this film because it doesn't even really catch your attention nor does it hold your attention but turns into one of those movies you impatiently and angrily await to end so you can know the plot's resolution obviously that means Children Of Men has great storytelling.
It is difficult to let people know the problems I have with this movie without giving a bunch away, but let me just say that it takes a highly improbable and unexplained event (all mothers on earth somehow stop having babies at the same time), adds some vivid imagery and a few half-baked ideas, and caps it off with a set of characters that we have little or no investment with at the end.
I guess some people might say the movie is slow, but Owen was on the screen the whole time and I AM biased, so I think at about 1 hour 35 minutes, it moved fine and overall I think it was a great film.
Clive Owen and Chiwetel Ejiofor were great, but everyone else seemed to be overacting to me, Julianne Moore's, Clare- Hope Ashitey (as the character of Kee, and for all intense and purposes the virgin Mary), Michael Caine, and Pam Ferris's characters feeling particularly forced, and annoyingly so.It was also trying too hard to make some deep, intellectual comments about our world today and the religious and cultural divides we are currently living in, hinting at the current political environment, and what consequences it could have, especially the last third of the film set in Bexhill.I had read the other reviews on here before seeing this movie, but now I've seen it, I'm quite under awed by it all, and the ending does leave you hanging and several plot holes unresolved, leaving me with a sense of not seeing what all the fuss is about, so if you haven't seen it, I personally wouldn't get your hopes up of being blown away by it..
The characters have absolutely zero depth, the setting is more artificial than a Borg cube, and the storyline....well, I'm still trying to figure out what the storyline WAS, exactly.Things not explained in this movie include: the title, The Human Project, the infertility, the reason for the treatment of the immigrants, what happened to the rest of the world, why Julianne Moore is offed by the Fishes, what the Fishes actually DO to help immigrants (other than kill every native they encounter???), how the Fishes believe that having the baby will save THEM (not just provide hope for humanity), why the army wouldn't immediately take the mother and child into custody rather than letting them stroll through a gun battle, why they wouldn't have gone worldwide public with the news of a pregnancy or birth to begin with, given the celebrity of the youngest person on earth, and I could go on and on and on.
The good thing about the film is that at least its below two hours runtime, which now seems to be the "least standard time", given to any movie no matter if it has a story to match the runtime.
The movie is almost nothing like the book, they only share a title, character names, and the most general tag-line of a plot "In the near future, people are no longer able to have children...".
If you read the book first the problems with the movie make it hard to enjoy.Acting:Clive is pretty good, I am assuming he was doing exactly what the director wanted (which is nothing like the character Theo).Julianne Moore's 'Julian' is a very shallow character (as directed I assume), would have been a much better performance if she had been given the role of Julian in the book.Michael Caine plays a caricature of a ridiculous hippie (again, as directed), he does it well.