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Children Of Men

Film // Jim // 28th September 2006

So we get to the end of Children Of Men, the credits suddenly appear and Craig says something along the lines of “What a great film.” At this point he is probably expecting me to say something along the lines of “Yeah it was pretty good… But it was too long, the dialogue was contrived, the plot exposition was terrible and the whole thing was a rip off of the vastly superior original, which was made on Etch-A-Sketches by native Inuit fisherman over the course of ten years. I’ve got it on import DVD.” What a wanker I can be.

Except I don’t. I say “Yes that was fantastic, what a great film. I can’t think of anything wrong with it at all.” I am a bit non-plussed to be honest. After spotting Sky Blue veteran Don Hutchison eating a hotdog in the foyer on the way out of the lovely Showcase cinema we continue to gush about how fantastic it was all the way home.

So why so positive?

Well Children Of Men is that rare beast, a major film release that you can go and see at your local multiplex, which is entertaining, thought-provoking and at times, spectacular. Admittedly it is rather grim fare at times – but there is definitely something to be said for a film that depicts a grim totalitarian future but still has room for a few “pull my finger” fart jokes.

If you have seen the excellent trailer (and if not, why not?), you’ll have an idea of the plot; The near future, the world has collapsed into chaos after nearly twenty years during which no babies have been conceived or born – no one knows why. With the whole place going to shit, Britain has survived by turning itself into the sort of horrific police state that we’ll no doubt get in a couple of years when that smug twat Cameron wins the next election.

Against this backdrop, civil servant and unlikely hero, Theo (played by Clive Owen) becomes the guardian of a young refugee girl, Kee, who we discover is miraculously pregnant. After an offer of cold hard cash from a bunch of political terrorists, Theo is set to escort Kee to a rendezvous on the south coast with a boat owned by the Human Project, a semi mythical bunch of scientists. They will whisk her away and use her to help solve the mystery of human infertility.

Unfortunately events conspire against them and before long they are on the run from everybody, their only salvation being a forest dwelling, ganja dealing Michael Caine. Eventually a plan of sorts crystallizes, which involves them getting into the massive internment camp for refugees located in the former town of Bexhill-on-Sea.

Essentially Children of Men is split into two parts, the first describes the state of the world that the characters find themselves in; A depressing, violent, instantly recognisable vision of Britain in twenty years time. The level of detail is amazing, there are so many clever ideas and such a density to every single scene that another viewing is going to be a necessity.

The second part is effectively an action movie that is heavily reminiscent of Hitchcock or Spielberg. Most notably in a tense and inventive get-away scene involving a car that needs to be push started, while the climactic scenes set during a battle in the Bexhill camp are both visually astonishing and technically jaw-dropping.

Throughout both parts of the film a consistency of tone is achieved through the detailed visual design and the excellent performance of all concerned. Clive Owen is superb as a really rather dismal character who takes it on himself to do something extraordinary. There is no sudden cathartic moment where he decides to do the right thing and although he becomes deeply protective of Kee, Theo remains fed-up, yet stoic throughout the story. The great thing about Clive Owen in this film is that he really inhabits it; he walks through the grim greyness in a resigned way that only a man who has grown up in Coventry could muster with such conviction.

Children Of Men: Dense, clever

The rest of the cast is a bit of a dream-team, you get Chewitel Ejiofor, Julianne Moore (doing a ping-pong ball trick), Pam Ferris, Peter Mullen and even scary, scary Danny Huston popping up as a government official related to Theo. He has been around the world rescuing artistic treasures; Guernica hangs in his dining room.

Michael Caine is spot-on as Jasper, the hippy in the woods, uncouth yet philosophical, his taste in music is a bit slap dash, mind you. Claire Hope Ashity, as Kee, is what Hitchcock would have called the MacGuffin. In a role that could just be a bit of a damsel in distress, she is great. “Wanker’s pissed,” she hisses on meeting Theo for the first time.

A lot of science fiction stories use outlandish premises to illustrate social or political issues of the time. Children Of Men shows a world that is already here, just not this close to home yet. The sequence showing the entry to Bexhill is really troubling, a scene reminiscent of Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib. While out in the real world, state sponsored adverts for suicide capsules are shown on TV and Danny Huston’s character looks out from the top of his personal museum in the Battersea power station. Theo wants to know how he manages to live like this when everything is so terrible elsewhere in the world, his answer is simple: “I don’t think about it.”

So anyway, clearly I think this is a great film and that you should all go and see it as soon as possible. Seems the UK film reviewing media, are not in agreement, generally branding Children Of Men as a touch average:

Empire magazine gave the new, incredibly tiring Superman flick five stars, but they only give this four.

Sky movies give it three out of five, they gave The Wedding Crashers four out of five.

The Times also give it a middling three out of five. Perhaps not surprising coming from a Murdoch owned rag.

Total Film stick with three out of five, the same score that they gave My Super Ex Girlfriend, for fucks sake.

The nadir has to be the review by David Edwards “On the new movies” in the mirror. Not really sure whether David has watched the film. Possibly he has pieced together his review from other sources. Apparently this is a film that “Only sci-fi nerds are going to enjoy” Hmmmmm. The real give away here is the bit in the review that reads “There’s also an amusing small part from Peter Mullan as a security guard with a conscience”.

Sure about that are we, David?

You utter cock.

End of Mullen cameo: Conscience?, Amused?

Links Of Children Of Men

COM Official Site

Not much doing but you can watch the fantastic trailer and look at some pictures.

The source novel

Infor on the book by PD James that is the basis for the film.