Films Science Fiction Children of Men (2006) | Children of Men (2006) |
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| Written by Daniel Cann | |
| Saturday, 15 November 2008 | |
Set in the year 2027 this tells the story of a world facing extinction since a flu pandemic in 2009 made the world’s population infertile. The film begins in London, not the one we know, but a future bleak one. Here the world is crumbling and in chaos. Everything looks grubby and worn out, the double-decker buses and trains are falling apart and rickshaws act as taxis on the streets of our capital. The opening sequence that involves a television news report at a café and an ensuing explosion draws the viewer straight into this uncertain and unstable environment.
Clive Owen plays Theo Faron, a crumpled, dishevelled, disillusioned and cynical journalist who smokes and drinks heavily. He walks to his office every day passing illegal immigrants that are held in cages by armed police. This Britain is a country that is torn apart by warring factions and controlled by a totalitarian and unsympathetic government. Theo is just trying to make his own way in this threatening and gloomy situation until he finds himself dragged into a plot that involves his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) a member of a revolutionary group and a young girl Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) who, in a world that has been infertile for the past eighteen years is pregnant. Owen is excellent and totally convincing as the unwilling and unlikely hero tasked with looking after and delivering Kee and her unborn child to safety. He is well supported by other cast members which include Michael Caine as Jasper, a former political cartoonist and now a hippy living in a ‘safe house’, Chiwetel Ejiofor as a terrorist leader (played with energy and intensity) and Pam Ferris as Miriam a midwife.
Alfonso Cuaron directs with edgy flair, using striking visuals to evoke a frighteningly believable future where fear, distrust and chaos reign. Despite being so bleak in subject and in nature the film manages a few neat touches of humour and totally delivers in terms of fast-paced, nerve-shredding action. Tension is built and sustained throughout and thanks to excellent and convincing performing the fear and reactions of the characters are totally believable. A film portraying a world of illegal immigrants, barbed wire fences, checkpoints, ruined buildings and warring factions says just as much about the present as it does about the future. There is a genuine sense of despair throughout. The pregnant Kee represents the world’s last hope and former activist Theo is her unlikely champion. The viewer will be willing the pair of them on in their quest to find safety thanks to the films vivid reality and well-sustained tension. I found ‘Children of Men’ to be gripping and compelling viewing despite its bleak subject matter. I am sure that others will enjoy this first-rate, thought-provoking sci-fi thriller. VIEW MOVIE TRAILER BELOW
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