Why is it so hard to write about movies one enjoys, but so easy to waste hundreds of words on films one hates? Don't ask me about Poseidon, for instance, or we could be here all day. Anyway, I've been sitting here for about 30 minutes trying to write something about Children of Men that will convince you to go and see it, as it's not getting a lot of write-ups or publicity etc.
All I've come up with is this: Children of Men is an excellent movie, much better than other recent sci-fi efforts such as the Wachowskis' V for Vendetta, or the rather incoherent Aeon Flux. Brilliant performances, a tense and unnerving narrative arc, absolutely fantastic camerawork and incredible mise en scene. The future London looks incredibly real, and the scenes set in the Bexhill Camp are utterly chilling.
Other thoughts that I don't have time to explore right now include the significane of Theo's relationships to animals, the relationship of the gender of the child to the particular use of 'Men' in the title (from the novel by PD James, I know, but I don't think it can be dismissed), as well as a broader set of ideas and themes in sci-fi that deal with the fraughtness of reproduction (see movies as diverse as Code 46 and Alien and Bladerunner, just to name a few).
There was a lot going in this movie, which you could see as a downside, but I loved the polymathic sprawl of it all which is, and I know this sounds very contradictory, enclosed in a very taut and tense thriller.
I'm also quite keen to read the original book now too, so I'm adding that to the TBR pile.
Anyway, go see it and let me know what you think.
Absolutely agree, especially that it left V for Vendetta looking even limper than it did already. I think it shits all over 28 Days Later as well. Also, now I begin to see the point of Clive Owen.
As A. Duck mentioned recently the trailer makes the movie look a bit awful and cheesy and we only went along because we're both in love with Julianne Moore. So if anybody's been thinking the same just ignore the trailer.
I'm two-thirds of the way through the novel and the differences are very interesting.
Posted by: Laura | November 04, 2006 at 01:39 PM
Poseidon, was that the one where they had to get out of the sunk ship? Wolfgang Petersen? Fergie got drowned, so it wasn't all bad.
Posted by: Laura | November 04, 2006 at 01:41 PM
Yeah. It was the most recent movie I've seen that I thought was rubbish. That and 'Cars', which surprised me with its suckiness.
Posted by: Kate | November 04, 2006 at 01:44 PM
oh, yes, the movie is SO MUCH BETTER than the trailer. I just got back from seeing it, and it was the best thing I've seen in that genre. Not overstated, not sentimental, absolutely 5 stars. I'll definitely be reading the book (when I can find a copy that isn't a movie tie-in; I have a pet hate re. movie covers on books)!
Posted by: ampersandduck | November 04, 2006 at 01:45 PM
Something that worried me in the trailer was the fact that the woman who falls pregnant is black. I was afraid this was supposed to have Out of Africa type connotations, but I was completely wrong about that, happily.
Posted by: Laura | November 04, 2006 at 01:50 PM
I had the same worry Laura, so I was relieved that it wasn't the case. And I also particularly liked the scene where Kee jokes about it being a virgin birth.
Posted by: Kate | November 04, 2006 at 02:22 PM
Yeah, me too. She did well.
Posted by: ampersandduck | November 04, 2006 at 02:51 PM
Yeh I really liked it too - except for the lefty brainwashing.
Posted by: Nick | November 04, 2006 at 06:27 PM
Would have left a comment over at Sars ... but Sars won't let me comment! :( It was a great film, with a few minor flaws.
Nick, I reckon it wouldn't be the same film without the lefty message. All it does, after all, is pick up on the least agreeable aspects of current government policies and exaggerate them a bit - typical sf/satirical technique. Also, couldn't it be argued, in the context of Blair's Britain, that it is actually an anti-Labor/anti-left film?
One thing which I don't think anyone has picked up on yet, but which I think is probably important in the films overall message - the quasi-religious way in which it portrays life. Any life, but especially human life. I reckon it could even be seen as having a pro-life message! - but it certainly picks up on the conservative fear that one of the primary threats to civilisation is the declining birth rate in western nations.
Posted by: TimT | November 04, 2006 at 06:42 PM
"Except for the lefty brainwashing."
Now Nick, the first rule of any sort of writing is 'show don't tell'. So please point out how, specifically, the film is a piece of lefty brainwashing?
Do you mean the points about the treatment of the Fugees (refugees)? Because I seem to recall the characters who want to free the Fugees -- the Fishers -- are painted in just as awful a light as the despotic government forces.
But yes, the film does seek to humanise 'illegal immigrants'. Funnily enough, refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants ARE human.
The references to Abu Ghraib? The anti-fascist government message? Aren't we all anti-fascist governments and anti-torture... ah, well, you've got me there. It's true the right isn't exactly anti-torture these days.
The film also has a lot to say, rather obliquely, about freedom (is this a lefty value now too? Okay, we'll claim it), environmentalism (yep but it won't be just a left concern for long), and violence. (Again, is it just the left who doesn't like people being shot and killed for no good reason? Guess so.)
Posted by: Kate | November 05, 2006 at 08:03 AM
Yeah, you're right - I don't think any of those issues are specifically left wing, and they shouldn't be.
For me, one of the most powerful things about this film is the iconic way in which it shows a great civilisation and centre of culture which has decayed and is on the verge of collapse, through a combination of apathy, exhaustion, and environmental influences. Now that's a message which should touch any conservatives heart.
Posted by: TimT | November 05, 2006 at 10:39 AM
I read this post, my local was showing it in 45 minutes. Just came back from seeing it.
Very, very good.
The State assisted suicide pill was a very interesting concept.
I wonder why IVF didn't work?
Posted by: coz | November 06, 2006 at 01:30 PM
oooh this movie looks so good. I saw Marg and David review it... but sometimes I get a bit freaked out by SF which is too realistic. it looks scarily plausible, and I don't quite think I'm in the mood for gritty realism at the moment. the cinamatography looks to be pretty impressive as well, any critiques of that? the way M&D were talking, the long shots really added to the tension.
like Coz asks, why doesn't IVF work? do they go into a story about why women aren't falling pregnant? or just launch straight into the story and run with it? I can respect that sort of story as long as it's plausibly set up.
Posted by: worldpeace_and_aspeedboat | November 07, 2006 at 06:52 AM
I don't know about IVF, but at one point Miriam, who was a midwife, talks about how women just started having miscarriages and then there just weren't any more pregnancies or babies.
It's never really explained, but I didn't think that was a bad thing, actually, because I find too much backstory can be really cumbersome. Not to mention it's hard to do complicated science-y exposition in any sort of convincing way.
Unfortunately, Speedy, it is most a realistic and convincing sci-fi effort, and rather gritty, so perhaps you should wait for the DVD.
Posted by: Kate | November 07, 2006 at 07:59 AM
I liked the way it wasn't explained. They are living it and so would know what was tried and what failed.
It was just a idea that occured to me driving home, they would have tried it but obviously it failed to.
I thought the violence and tension was very well done. The slowest carchase in the world was kinda funny in a squirm in your seat way.
Posted by: coz | November 07, 2006 at 08:17 AM
I saw an advance screening of the movie and it sucked donkey balls. Don't go see it!!!
Posted by: George | November 14, 2006 at 03:14 AM
Oddly enough, George, if you weren't spam you'd have read my post, noticed that I've already seen the film and rather enjoyed it, and you could have saved yourself the trouble of writing that exceedingly thoughtful comment.
Posted by: Kate | November 14, 2006 at 09:19 AM
I don't think I have read one negative review on Children of Men - it must be as good as I thought it was. I was just writing on my blog (this post: http://lackofsound.blogspot.com/2006/11/cities-falling-silent.html) how it must be like to wonder through a desolate city, being one of the few people still alive. The pictures of abandoned buildings, theme parks and stations look so sad, but only because they remind us of their past. It is as if they're stuck in the past.
Posted by: Renee | November 15, 2006 at 10:08 PM
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
The movie had great staging, fantastic cinematography, a good theme but ultimately it didn't live up to it's potential.
The story was lacking in substance, the characters were bland and did not come alive on screen. There were nice moments although some scenes were very contrived.
The ending was predictable and what about the Human Project? Never promise the audience something then not show it! That's like going to a restaurant, ordering the special dessert, looking forward to it, only to find they have ran out right at the end.
I did not particularly like the main characters, I felt more for Michael Caine and Julianne Moore.
I was glad when they got rid of the bohemian new age woman, she was irritating.
When Clive Owen died, I didn't care, there wasn't enough emotional investment there as a viewer.
Films such as Leon, Braveheart and Infernal Affairs where the main character dies, really leave an impression on the viewer. You almost want an alternative ending where they don't die!
I really wanted to like Children Of Men, it's not a bad film, just not a good one either.
Posted by: Jimbo | December 18, 2006 at 11:26 AM
"You almost want an alternative ending where they don't die!"
Wanna read my Hamlet where Ophelia doesn't drown herself, Laertes does nonviolent direct action instead, and the Prince goes on to lead the first Danish Republic?
Posted by: Liam | December 18, 2006 at 11:39 AM
Well that was edifying.
Posted by: Kate | December 18, 2006 at 11:44 AM
"Wanna read my Hamlet where Ophelia doesn't drown herself, Laertes does nonviolent direct action instead, and the Prince goes on to lead the first Danish Republic?"
I have just the title for ye, Haiku:
"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Resting"
Posted by: Fyodor | December 18, 2006 at 01:24 PM
Hey, wait 'till you read my Othello à la Tarantino.
"Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice:
then must you speak English, motherfucker,
Dost thou speak it?"
Posted by: Liam | December 18, 2006 at 01:44 PM
Can't wait for that one, Sveta. I'm guessing there'd be much popping of caps in arses by our favourite BMF.
Posted by: Fyodor | December 18, 2006 at 02:11 PM
Well, it's of a piece with my Bollywood Romeo and Juliet.
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
Start dancing with parental scrutiny,
Dressed up with unnatural hair-oil sheen..."
Posted by: Liam | December 18, 2006 at 02:39 PM