A Gritty Perception Of Human Morality

Over the recent years of film and even T.V to an extent, the sub-genre of Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic is a concept that has been used heavily throughout the different art mediums. The clear examples of this would be of course the infamous T.V series The Walking Dead and the dystopian film series The Hunger Games which some claim to be the films of our age, which I’m not too sure about if I’m honest. What’s interesting to consider about these Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic film and T.V shows is how they’re all an amalgamation of the same thing. With The Walking Dead, this series obviously focuses on the idea of Zombies being real and trying to survive very much reflecting on past projects like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead whilst The Hunger Games which is indeed a book adaptation, pretty much circulate story concepts from the like of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ and ‘Lord of the Flies’. While the majority of these dystopian tales are roughly the same thing but just re-told differently, Children of Men, a film based on P. D.James’s novel of the same name, is an original piece of filmic work lays down a gritty and realistic futuristic prospect in an monochrome manner. Yes, obviously this film is Apocalyptic and you can argue it falls into that pit of familiarity like the other titles I’ve mentioned. However, Children of Men is a film that plays around with issues and ideas that not a lot of dystopian pictures cover like infertility, immigration, society, politics and this lingering prospect of hope and faith. With those themes integrated within the narrative, it’s no wonder why Children of Men stands out to be one of the better post-apocalyptic films to watch with not only its deployment of its themes, but also with it’s clever use of Sound, it’s locations and above all else, it’s employment of using Single-shot sequences in which we see complex actions take place.

World divisions, chaos and anarchy; these are some of the ways in which the remaining inhabitants of this world have to live and endure by. No child has been born for 18 years. Human life and it’s moral self are eroding into extinction. Set in Britain in the year 2027 when the youngest person in the world has just been revealed to be dead and when Britain has become a militarised police state as British Government Forces round up and detain immigrants, Children of Men follows the story of Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a former father and activist turned cynical bureaucrat, who is kidnapped by the ‘Fishes’, a militant immigrants’ right group which is lead by Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) Theo’s former wife after whom their son’s death. Unwittingly drawn into their plight, Theo learns who can be trusted, who can be dependable, and how he must safeguard and hold the most precious secret the human race has been longing to hear, the miracle that can change the course of humanity; the first pregnant woman in 18 years. When things start to take a sluggish turn, Theo, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) and Miriam (Pam Ferris) who are now on the run, must travel cross-country, terrified and helpless, to the safe heaven of the Human Project. With the help of ageing hippie Jaspar Palmer (Michael Caine) along the way, all that remains to be answered is that whether this new born hope will be the demise of human race, or will it ignite the birth of a new dawn…

There’s no mistaken that Cuaron has truly made a film that perplexes the way the future could go towards in a realistic and gritty fashion. There are two ways in which Cuaron does this; through the use of the Single-shot sequences and the way he intertwines the use of diegetic/non-diegetic sound with the environment together. I know this statement I’m about to make can certainly be questionable due to the fact that most films tend to have this anyway, but as cinematography goes, Children of Men undoubtedly has some of the best camera work that I’ve seen compared to most. It’s not just that the Single-shot sequences, which is unique to this film and brilliantly managed by Emmanuel Lubezki, is innovative in terms of how smooth it looks when it pirouettes constantly around the main characters on screen in-conjunction with the action also being displayed, but inadvertently, it’s a good cinematic technique that adds to the narrative and the overall monochrome visuals. One good example of this, even though there a multiple of good choices to choose from, is the opening segment of when we see Theo at the coffee shop as it seems to play out in an ordinary and calm fashion and then it unexpectedly and shockingly switches into a scene of madness with a bomb going off and this feeling of being shell-shocked with how the sound fades out into a slight screech. What makes this scene unexpected in terms of the camera work, is how it rapidly changes from a Drama/Sci-fi picture into a Documentary type of deal which does tend to happen on a few occasions. One criticism that I can understand and relate to, is how not every long-take is actually a ‘long-take’. What indeed happens with most of these types of shots is they actually get edited together and combine several takes to create something that is near impossible to pull off neatly and tidy. For my watching experience however, I try to ignore that and embrace how these Single-shot add to the film. The other cinematic aspect that I really appreciated in Cuaron’s film is how it implemented the meshing of sound and the environment together. 

Again going back to the coffee scene, the way the sound of the Tuk-Tuk’s and other ambient sound which quickly changes into a shell-shocked screech is really interesting and adds to this sense uncertainty. As far as the environment goes, Cuaron and his team of production designers have created what it, perhaps, the most believable vision of the future seen in quite some time. It’s really pleasing to watch a film like this that has Sci-Fi elements, that doesn’t parade advanced technology when in fact, in terms of it’s genre, it should do. In this film it’s never allowed to steal the audience’s attention away from the proceedings far too long, which I really like about this film. It’s not your average Sci-Fi flick, it’s doing it’s own thing. Rather than this film focusing on things that seem near enough impossible to achieve and technology that seems ambitious that most Sci-fi films focus on, Children of Men smartly addresses issues that are very much in our lives today and portrays to us, what could happen if these problems of today ‘blossomed’ which leads us to our next little topic point of the themes that this film adopts.

Through my various years of watching different array of film, I don’t think there’s a film other than this one that blends a variety of different themes and ideas into one piece and somehow manages to work. The obvious theme that this film sustains which is also evident in the novel as well, is this idea of ‘hope and faith’. This theme in particular, is explored through the face of overwhelming futility and despair. In both the novel and the adaptation, it is made clear that ‘hope’ depends on future generations. In the film, you could argue that the ‘almost mythical’ Human Project, which is where Theo, Kee and Miriam are trying to get to, serves to be a metaphor for the possibility of the evolution of the human spirit, the evolution of human understanding. So in terms of the ending of this story, when Theo and Kee wait for the boat to get them to the Human Project, you can interpret the ending however you like as it’s supposed invest your own hope into the ending. You can view the final scenes as something that there is either hope or none at all. One of the other themes that I got latched to since this is kind of happening in the world of today, are the contemporary references; more specifically, the ideas around immigration. It’s certainly a film that if you looked at it right now, comments on the politics of immigration of today. The way in which Britain is shown in this dark picture is certainly something that could actually happen with how immigrants are trying to get into the country today. If you were to take this up a level, you could argue that the hellish, cinema verite stylized battle scenes in the later stages of the film, convincingly looks similar to the past news coverage and documentary pics of the Iraq war showing how Cuaron has certainly conjured up fictional landscapes that are war zones of extraordinary plausibility. The last and final idea that I found really intriguing to think about was how it had a lot of religious connotations; more specifically, Christian symbolism. If you actually think about the journey both Theo and Kee take in this film, you can actually think around it as a modern-day Nativity story being that Theo helps Kee like Joseph does with Mary in the Biblical story, Kee’s pregnancy is revealed to Theo in a barn (alluding to the manager of the Nativity scene) and when Theo asks Kee who the father of the baby is, she jokingly states that she is a virgin. There is much to go on from this theme, but it is quite thought-provoking how Children of Men uses a lot of Christian connotations when in fact this film was released around Christmas time in USA.

As far as performances go, there aren’t many roles that stand out to be amazing. I mean don’t get me wrong, Clive Owen who plays as Theo is a a kind of funny prospect due to the fact that Theo is the sought of character that Clive Owen in real-life resembles; someone who is witty, cynical and can be a social critic. Julianne Moore and Michael Caine equally share the same mantle as they both put up safe performances of someone who is grieving mother trying to change the world for the better and someone who is a pot-head hippie who is both caring and suicidal. If I had to pick out a performance that I really thought was exceptional, it would in fact be Chiwetel Ejiofor’s role as Luke who takes over the ‘Fishes’ once Julian dramatically dies. The way he changes into someone who ‘helps’ the ‘Fishes’ into someone who commands that brings out his darker self really compliments well with the matters of the film and where they are placed in this world.

With it’s realistic themes and ideas set in motion right from the start of it’s story, Children of Men is a Sci-Fi film that accurately and realistically interprets a future that is most certainly on the cards for us all with it’s way of highlighting immigration, Society and religion. Cuarons implementation of a realistic and gritty environment which is complemented by Lubezki’s Single-shot sequences certainly makes Children of Men stand out from the rest. Truly, while arguably the run of the mill Sci-Fi picks tend to focus on the same things as each other, Children of Men is a Sci-Fi feature that stands alone in terms of what it’s presenting. It’s not only the themes that leave you thinking about the film, action sequences which is again been helped by the cinematography, is a spectacle to witness as most film-makers for sure WILL more than likely, learn something from a film that is stylised beautifully. 

With that review done and dusted everyone, I am indeed done for today. As always, if you enjoyed what you have read today, you’re always welcome to leave a comment down below if you have an opinion on either my review or the film. Thank you for those who’ve read the entirety of this review, it really does please me that people enjoy reading my thoughts on a film. Anyway, I may have a Blog Post later on this week, if by some circumstance I don’t put that Blog Post out, I will always post a film review which you can expect next Monday. Again, thank you guys for reading and I’ll see you, at the latest, early next week. Take Care 😉

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – Alex Rabbitte