Children of Men
A neo-apocalyptic adventure starring Clive Owen, as Theo, an anarchist who grows up to be a disillusioned bureaucrat. The year is 2027 and all women on earth are infertile. The youngest person is 18 years old. Very early on the age of each character becomes a clarion call to the survival of the human race and each death a crushing blow to that end.
Taking place in England there are no good guys, nor are there any bad guys in this movie. There is only Theo and a refugee named Kee, the only pregnant woman on earth. Theo through a series of events must get Kee to a boat that will take her and her unborn child to a safe haven. You see the world although still moving at the speed of commerce is slowing dying from the zero population growth. Most country's have collapsed into violence, only England holds on to a sliver of hope. Politically, English society is fractured into the government trying to keep control over a collapsing empire and the disenchanted who cling to hope and fables.
Theo's trek with the young pregnant Kee, through government controlled checkpoints and lost cause political groups, tear's at his heart destroyed by the loss of his own son, wife and consequent abdication to conform to society.
The third act plays out like a bad day as Theo and Kee move from contact to contact while the whole world comes down around them and they try to make to the ship that signifies sanctuary.
The future is expressed as a dreary extension of our current climate. Children of Men is at once a bleak prospect of our future and the hope that clings to the bearing of our children. There is many levels that this movie plays out; government control of life, the hopelessness of all women who are no longer able to conceive. The thought that the only pregnant woman on earth is a bad thing and that the only baby that comes would be a sacrifice stands in stark contrast to the decisions Theo makes at the end of the movie.
I found Children of Men a complex if slow movie, pulled along by the force of Clive Owens silence and facial expressions. He is a wholly complex character in this movie, channeling the like of Bogart and Tracy. Redemptive and sad, a movie that will be discussed and thought of long after the credits roll.
Taking place in England there are no good guys, nor are there any bad guys in this movie. There is only Theo and a refugee named Kee, the only pregnant woman on earth. Theo through a series of events must get Kee to a boat that will take her and her unborn child to a safe haven. You see the world although still moving at the speed of commerce is slowing dying from the zero population growth. Most country's have collapsed into violence, only England holds on to a sliver of hope. Politically, English society is fractured into the government trying to keep control over a collapsing empire and the disenchanted who cling to hope and fables.
Theo's trek with the young pregnant Kee, through government controlled checkpoints and lost cause political groups, tear's at his heart destroyed by the loss of his own son, wife and consequent abdication to conform to society.
The third act plays out like a bad day as Theo and Kee move from contact to contact while the whole world comes down around them and they try to make to the ship that signifies sanctuary.
The future is expressed as a dreary extension of our current climate. Children of Men is at once a bleak prospect of our future and the hope that clings to the bearing of our children. There is many levels that this movie plays out; government control of life, the hopelessness of all women who are no longer able to conceive. The thought that the only pregnant woman on earth is a bad thing and that the only baby that comes would be a sacrifice stands in stark contrast to the decisions Theo makes at the end of the movie.
I found Children of Men a complex if slow movie, pulled along by the force of Clive Owens silence and facial expressions. He is a wholly complex character in this movie, channeling the like of Bogart and Tracy. Redemptive and sad, a movie that will be discussed and thought of long after the credits roll.
posted by Comm's @ 8:41 PM
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