Children of Men

[BeautifulBurnout]

Anyone seen this yet? Every clip and every review screams out for me to see this asap. Clive Owen's role has been described as his best ever, and Michael Caine as an old long-haired hippy is just too tempting a prospect for words.

PD James was always a good writer. I haven't read this book but it will be interesting to see how she translates to the big screen. She is most famous for her Adam Dalgleish detective stories which do well on the TV here.

[GoatSucker]

Saw this last night and can definitely recommend it. Clive Owen and Michael Caine are excellent and the film portrays a genuinely believable future.

[Bargo]

I saw this on the weekend and I have to say it's definitely my #1 movie for 2006 unless something comes later to bump it off (The Fountain, perhaps).

Some of the action and suspense scenes were just mind-blowing, most of them done (or appearing to have been done) in just one take. I've got to give particular mention to the roadside attack, and the way the camera swirls around inside the vehicle (rather than cutting) to show the different perspectives of its passengers whilst absolute chaos goes on outside.

Great soundtrack, too. Michael Caine's character has some good taste. :)

[b.miller]

i really really really want to see this but won't get the chance for about a month. I think it plays just about everywhere else in the world before here in the States (damn oscars)... looks great though.

[grady]

This is one of those films that I'm itching to see at the moment and thanks to the wonderful late release as others have mentioned, we get it here in the states last.

I just wish the trailer didn't reveal so much(I presume) of the story. I might be wrong, but perhaps some of those who've seen the film can verify whether my assumption is correct or not.

[b.miller]

resurrecting since I think i'll be out in the states before too long.

This movie really blew me away. Don't mind the trailer... don't even watch it if you've been lucky enough to dodge it. the trailer's wrong. this is a very very very good movie.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Looking very forward to this one. I hear Oscars(not that I pay attn to them much anymore).

[grady]

I grew impatient last night after seeing The Good Shepherd and learning that Children of Men would not open in Portland until the first or second week of January that I broke down and watched the screener copy I've had for a few weeks.

Damn that was a great film. Perhaps one of the best I've seen this year.

The trailer for this film is very very wrong.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I hate you grady. (just kidding) :D

could someone post something in the Silver Surfer thread already.

[Emmet]

possibly my favourite film of the year

[viddy]

Good movie, but not great. The trailer had me excited since last July. **Spoilers ahead**

The pacing was slow to me. I kept waiting for more action, I wasn't satisfied till the last quarter of the film. There just seemed to be too much blah blah blah talking and not enough action. I kept waiting for Clive Owen's character to grab a gun. I was waiting for him to really get pissed off and lean over and grab a rifle off the ground and start firing back, or at least carry a weapon for protection. But he just kept being taken advantage of by just about anyone else (who was carrying a weapon).

When the action was there it was fantastic. I loved the very long takes and/or the blending of multiple takes into one seamless shot. Very impressive from a filmmaking standpoint. The filming locations/set design were also a great achievement; it's such a difficult look to pull off with the amount of different locations I saw.

I also could have felt more for the characters. I didn't get to know them enough so I didn't really care for them all that much. They didn't get built up enough before diving into the journey. The best part for me was when Clive and "Key" were walking out of the building in combat with the crying baby, how everyone just froze. It was a chilling and sad moment. Excellent.

I wanted this to be the best film of the year, I wanted it to hit me like all the reviews said it would, but it just didn't have the impact I was hoping for. But like I said, when it was good, it was good.

p.s. very Half Life 2-ish indeed.

[Cranks]

Does anyone know when this opens Nationwide here in the U.S.? I looked on both the Universal website and The Children of Men site, but didn't see any info. Thanks in advance.

[viddy]

Does anyone know when this opens Nationwide here in the U.S.? I looked on both the Universal website and The Children of Men site, but didn't see any info. Thanks in advance.

I don't know, but when I saw it on Christmas it was only playing in like one theatre in all of Illinois, literally.

[Cranks]

Well, I saw a trailer for it on tv today, it's opening across the U.S. on Jan. 5

[GforGroove]

I didn't knew anything about this movie and it really blew me away too.

For the most part was incredible i mean *incredible*. i just wish the end wasn't that chessy. All the politic plot around immigration and terrorism is really good together with the beatiful production design. This movie LOOKS just soo good. Huxley reloaded :)

How about the book? Does someone read it before?
I want to read this so much now.

*spoiler*





Michael Caine a la John Lennon is the best part of Children of Men. OMG that is THE ROLE!!!

[chino]

My 2006 fave film. I had heard about it, but when I finally saw it, some weeks ago, I was really pleased about how a good film has to be.

Very sad, melodramatic and I liked the end, I guess it could have other options, but finally I liked the complete story.

I don't fucking care about the director's nationality, here in Mexico, the film marketing was based upon the fact, that we had to support mexican stuff created on Hollywood, but I think that is great to have such great directors, but the final product is everything but mexicanl. As many other interesting people, Cuaron is just a citizen of the world.

[GreenPea]

I liked it a lot mainly because it was violent and depressing as fuck and the depiction of anarchy and social decay was great. Some things did rub me the wrong way though, like some of the final scenes with the baby that were too cheesy, actually the whole ending was bleh. Also athough the depiction of a fascist UK was pretty cool some of the insertion of current events into the movie seemed really forced (like some rally at the refugee camp that looked like Hamas). I actually wonder what this movie would be like without the sci-fi element or if they had taken the sci-fi element to the extreme (like mother nature taking revenge on us and there is no hope/baby).

I dunno I don't see it as prophetic as some people do, nor did I care about the serious topics as adressed in the film (immigration, pollution, totalitarianism) as it seems that the conections to current events were forced to make it look prophetic/scare us. But the depiction of anarchy and the end of civilization is the best I've ever seen on film.

Michael Cane did look like John Lennon, but I can't say I cared about his glorified hippie character much :P

[Aaron Contreras]

The only important film I've seen since...

...okay, I can't remember the last important movie I saw in the theatre. Required fucking viewing as far as I'm concerned. People (including my date, ouch) were crying after it ended. I think this is the first movie I've seen as an adult...maybe the first movie that speaks to the burden of my generation?

I found it pretty fucking hilarious, too - there are lots of funny moments in the apocalypse, just you wait. :)

[GreenPea]

I found it pretty fucking hilarious, too - there are lots of funny moments in the apocalypse, just you wait. :)

Yeah, they had to do this to break some of the tension. I feel if they hadn't inserted some jokes people would have walked out.

[koisk]

Yeah, they had to do this to break some of the tension. I feel if they hadn't inserted some jokes people would have walked out.
I just saw it, and yes - it helped! This movie was incredible as well as horribly depressing.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!!!!!

The action scenes where some of the best I've ever seen in a movie. The attention to detail and the realism was mind blowing - example: The way the motorcycle not only gets knocked away but hits the hood of the car (ka-chunk!) was very well done. (Also, the getaway was the best 'oh-god-the-keys-won't-work-oh-god' type of getaway outside of Cujo.

After the thing was over I felt like taking some of those Quietus pills myself.

END SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

One point no one's mentioned that struck me most strong is the idea that every injustice that happened to humans in the film is not futuristic at all but going on everyday in the current. :(

[Eikman]

i watched this a couple of days ago. it was good, but not brilliant. am i the only one who thinks it has a lot of similarities with "28 days later"? of course there are no zombies and it's definitely the better movie, but the whole end-of-the-world theme, the colours, the way it was shot....

[kid cue]

i liked it too, a lot, but mainly for formal reasons -- i love his roving camera, and thought it worked much better (and made more sense) for immersing the viewer in a fictional future than for following Harry and Ron in their flying car. it was one of the most convincing dystopian futures i've seen, largely because it was so understated. the film's "importance" seems to have taken a backseat to (really amazing) visual imagery and heavy symbolism, though its big moments were big indeed. i left with the effect of having been very impressed, but not especially moved. the ending was maybe part of that.

[GreenPea]

i watched this a couple of days ago. it was good, but not brilliant. am i the only one who thinks it has a lot of similarities with "28 days later"? of course there are no zombies and it's definitely the better movie, but the whole end-of-the-world theme, the colours, the way it was shot....
Yeah, it was a lot similar. Personally I did not find it moving or specially important or relevant for our time. I just took great morbid pleasure on seeing such a great portrayal of the end of times. It was like a zombie movie but without the more obvious fantastical elements. I did not think it was brilliant in the least but it made me feel depressed and that has to count for something. I was just amazed at the unrestrained portrayal of nihilism basically.

[GreenPea]

One point no one's mentioned that struck me most strong is the idea that every injustice that happened to humans in the film is not futuristic at all but going on everyday in the current. :(

It has been going on in the past as well. I mean, injustice and human beings being animals towards other human beings is nothing new. It has been there since we climbed down for the trees. I admire people that want to make of this world a better place and I think things are worse that a few years back, but overall today's times are not any worse than the 80s or 70s or 60s or w/e. I basically don't feel pessimistic about the future to tell you the truth.

[chino]

Am I missing something or what? I didn't find this great film nominated for any important price/award this awards season.

why?

[mkb]

Some people I've talked to have found this movie inherently racist. Do you guys think they're deluded or correct? I haven't seen this yet; just wondering.

[GreenPea]

Some people I've talked to have found this movie inherently racist. Do you guys think they're deluded or correct? I haven't seen this yet; just wondering.
WTF :confused: There is nothing racist about it. In fact i though the movie erred in being a bit too pollitically correct. Basically the fascist government depicted seems to not have race issues wathsoever but just discriminate along the lines of nationality. I thought that was more than a bit unrealistic as racism is a very real issue and it is hard for me to believe that a goverment that is so discriminatory against immigrants from eastern europe would have no issues wathsoever with black people or indian people as long as they have a british citizenship. That was silly.

[dubman]

i liked it too, a lot, but mainly for formal reasons -- i love his roving camera, and thought it worked much better (and made more sense) for immersing the viewer in a fictional future than for following Harry and Ron in their flying car. it was one of the most convincing dystopian futures i've seen, largely because it was so understated. the film's "importance" seems to have taken a backseat to (really amazing) visual imagery and heavy symbolism, though its big moments were big indeed. i left with the effect of having been very impressed, but not especially moved. the ending was maybe part of that.

I really liked that aspect of it too. it lets us know just as much as the characters in the movie that everything has been fucked for awhile and they're just living with it. it can't really be boxed inside the pretense of a "warning" without clouding up everything amazing about this movie.

WTF :confused: There is nothing racist about it. In fact i though the movie erred in being a bit too pollitically correct. Basically the fascist government depicted seems to not have race issues wathsoever but just discriminate along the lines of nationality. I thought that was more than a bit unrealistic as racism is a very real issue and it is hard for me to believe that a goverment that is so discriminatory against immigrants from eastern europe would have no issues wathsoever with black people or indian people as long as they have a british citizenship. That was silly.

i thought they correctly identified the kind of racism that the government wouldnt make policy but would enact through its agents. the two cops that disproportionately freak out at the mere sight of luke, the belief that they wouldnt believe that a new child could come from a "fugee" aka predominantly minority sector, and i'd believe that with the policy of "immigrants banned" that the government instructed to carry that out would add people that LOOK foreign into that pile and carry out their own bigotry under the guise of the law.

[Aaron Contreras]

It was like a zombie movie but without the more obvious fantastical elements.
Huh? John is right:

One point no one's mentioned that struck me most strong is the idea that every injustice that happened to humans in the film is not futuristic at all but going on everyday in the current. :(

[kid cue]

yeah, but this is true for most sci-fi films isn't it? they all have a basis in the world today, that's the point. if anything, i thought the immigration and terrorism themes in the film were almost TOO timely to be taken seriously.

[GreenPea]

i thought they correctly identified the kind of racism that the government wouldnt make policy but would enact through its agents. the two cops that disproportionately freak out at the mere sight of luke, the belief that they wouldnt believe that a new child could come from a "fugee" aka predominantly minority sector, and i'd believe that with the policy of "immigrants banned" that the government instructed to carry that out would add people that LOOK foreign into that pile and carry out their own bigotry under the guise of the law.

Yeah but I did not see that in the movie there plenty of people in the movie and in today's UK that "look" foreign. But they seem to have no problem at all in the film. In the film it is depicted as if racial minorities do no have a problem at all as long as they are "citizens".

[Aaron Contreras]

yeah, but this is true for most sci-fi films isn't it? they all have a basis in the world today, that's the point. if anything, i thought the immigration and terrorism themes in the film were almost TOO timely to be taken seriously.
Most sci-fi films tend to have the 'what if...' in bold and the 'meaning' be implied. The Matrix is a good example of this - it's about a world where machines have taken over and humans fight back by jacking into virtual reality world where hackers have super powers. It has layers of meaning about man's relationship with technology, conforming vs. rebelling against authority, faith vs. reason, humanity as virus and so on and so on. The movie is *about* Neo jumping between buildings and doing cool kung fu shit - the 'meaning' just makes the punches and kicks more interesting.

Children of Men, on the other hand is all about the 'meaning' and doesn't even completely resolve the 'what if'. The core story of a sterile world confronted with the first pregnancy in 18 years is kind've irrelevant compared to everything else going on. This movie uses the 'what if' to slip past our preconceptions of fact and fiction - it wants to unsettle you with the realization that everything bad happening in this movie is happening right now in the world - some of it doubtless outside your window.

I mean, shit, look at it as pure sci-fi if you want...but I think it is pretty clear the creators had more going on than the surface story.

[GreenPea]

Huh? John is right:

And at what point in time have those injustices not being happening? The themes vary slightly through the times. I feel like kid cue, it was too timely, more than prophetic it feels exploitative.

[GreenPea]

Children of Men, on the other hand is all about the 'meaning' and doesn't even completely resolve the 'what if'. The core store of a sterile world confronted with the first pregnancy in 18 years is kind've irrelevant compared to everything else going on. This movie uses the 'what if' to slip past our preconceptions of fact and fiction - it wants to unsettle you with the realization that everything bad happening in this movie is happening right now in the world - some of it doubtless outside your window.


Sure, I guess I did not need a movie to tell me what is happening in the news. The movie just try to take a snapshot of today's world and exaggerated it to its extreme. But the thing is it felt too 'current', I feel in a few years when the issues have changed then the movie is going to lose a lot of relevance.

[kid cue]

Children of Men, on the other hand is all about the 'meaning' and doesn't even completely resolve the 'what if'. The core store of a sterile world confronted with the first pregnancy in 18 years is kind've irrelevant compared to everything else going on. This movie uses the 'what if' to slip past our preconceptions of fact and fiction - it wants to unsettle you with the realization that everything bad happening in this movie is happening right now in the world - some of it doubtless outside your window i mean, i agree that it isn't just sci-fi, but i guess i don't buy into the duality between fiction/speculation/narrative vs. truth/issues/NOW. i'd be more into the concept of Children Of Men as an unsettling movie about the times posing as a sci-fi film if it weren't 95% about "THE TIMES" (with bonus futuristic premise) and didn't come across as being--slightly--heavy-handed as a result. i'd have hoped for it to be a little cleverer, for a truly subversive and unsettling story.

[mkb]

WTF :confused: There is nothing racist about it. In fact i though the movie erred in being a bit too pollitically correct. Basically the fascist government depicted seems to not have race issues wathsoever but just discriminate along the lines of nationality. I thought that was more than a bit unrealistic as racism is a very real issue and it is hard for me to believe that a goverment that is so discriminatory against immigrants from eastern europe would have no issues wathsoever with black people or indian people as long as they have a british citizenship. That was silly.

Well, specifically I guess the problem was that the fact the lone bearer of children left in the world was black, and that fact was colonialist and racist. I just got into a big argument about it because I'm white and therefore cannot have an opinion on whether this film or Jar Jar Binks is a racist stereotype.

[GreenPea]

Well, specifically I guess the problem was that the fact the lone bearer of children left in the world was black, and that fact was colonialist and racist. I just got into a big argument about it because I'm white and therefore cannot have an opinion on whether this film or Jar Jar Binks is a racist stereotype.

How is this racist? If anything it was another heavy handed political statement.

[mkb]

How is this racist? If anything it was another heavy handed political statement.
Well, I'm white, so apparently I can't have an opinion :mad:

(sorry, it got nasty. nasty enough that I expect those involved to try and find this thread)

[kid cue]

it might've been racist if the only fertile woman on the planet had been white. the subtext was Christian. in the film they treated Kee's pregnancy as if it were a miracle, not a stereotype.

[GforGroove]

UUh? racist?
see it again. think multicolor while you watch it, is easier......

black/white mind sets are so outdated. seriously the color of Bazooka :D
wasn't the point at all!!

[mkb]

UUh? racist?
see it again. think multicolor while you watch it, is easier......

black/white mind sets are so outdated. seriously the color of Bazooka :D
wasn't the point at all!!

I haven't even seen it yet :)

The mindset isn't totally outdated unfortunately but don't bother entering a discussion about it unless your skin is of the right color among certain crowds that i was until recently friends with.

[GreenPea]

it might've been racist if the only fertile woman on the planet had been white. the subtext was Christian. in the film they treated Kee's pregnancy as if it were a miracle, not a stereotype.

Oh..I see where they are coming from now..wow...totally missed that. Anyways, kid cue is right.

[dubman]

i mean, i agree that it isn't just sci-fi, but i guess i don't buy into the duality between fiction/speculation/narrative vs. truth/issues/NOW. i'd be more into the concept of Children Of Men as an unsettling movie about the times posing as a sci-fi film if it weren't 95% about "THE TIMES" (with bonus futuristic premise) and didn't come across as being--slightly--heavy-handed as a result. i'd have hoped for it to be a little cleverer, for a truly subversive and unsettling story.
well shit, at least it wasnt "V for vendetta"

[dubman]

it might've been racist if the only fertile woman on the planet had been white. the subtext was Christian. in the film they treated Kee's pregnancy as if it were a miracle, not a stereotype.
oh shit, is *that* where it was going? ugh. can we say it's also biased aginst those in poverty or can we accept the tendencies of how different socioeconomic sections behave without pulling the race card?

ugh. utterly lazy on yr friends' part mkb. :rolleyes:

[mkb]

ugh. utterly lazy on yr friends' part mkb. :rolleyes:

well, i'd apologize for keeping lousy company but we're now no longer on speaking terms, heh.

[kid cue]

well shit, at least it wasnt "V for vendetta"
yeah. i had extremely high expectations for it, most of which were met, so i badly want it to be perfect. this one wins over V For Vendetta just for having dubstep :)

[Tom]

Saw this the other night and really enjoyed it. I kind of man-love Clive Owen.

[Jafs]

Just saw it ! Great, too many things to describe. Just go watch this if you can !

[Strangelet]

just saw it as well.

horrid movie. a new genre has been created: anxploitation. exploit all the anxieties people have developed from watching the nightly news. spoilers follow...

lets see, lets just go through the list.


flu pandemic? ..... check
pollution? .......... check
alien invasion? ..... check
the whole world looks like gaza?.... check
mysterious species wide dysfunction?...check

nothing interesting was said about above problems, just a drawn out bleak picture of it. Moreover, the whole world is turning out the lights, you'd think things would be calmer, more resigned. No new babies means a collapsing population, means more resources, means people can just do drugs and have sex all day. seems just as plausible.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

wwWWWOWWWww

[chino]

I do love Julianne Moore.
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is it apocalyptic? or what?

[dubman]

just saw it as well.

horrid movie. a new genre has been created: anxploitation. exploit all the anxieties people have developed from watching the nightly news. spoilers follow...

lets see, lets just go through the list.


flu pandemic? ..... check
pollution? .......... check
alien invasion? ..... check
the whole world looks like gaza?.... check
mysterious species wide dysfunction?...check


er, guy...

from lust to science to rednecks to sharks to industrialization, movies have ALWAYS derived dramatic or horror or dystopian plots from the anxieties of the generation.

so probably one of the least new observations ever.

[Strangelet]

er, guy...

from lust to science to rednecks to sharks to industrialization, movies have ALWAYS derived dramatic or horror or dystopian plots from the anxieties of the generation.

so probably one of the least new observations ever.
there's a difference between exploiting anxieties and examining them. If you don't agree, then yeah there's nothing new to observe is there? The movie was slickly produced, beautifully executed, well directed, well acted, and didn't say a fucking thing. And kid cue is right, some of it is too timely to be believable and that's mainly because it was forced in to maximize the exploitation, not because it actually meant something to the story. Eikman is also right, if you don't say anything you end up with a fucking zombie movie, so why even have the pretense and bill it as some provoking dystopian film when its a summer movie horror film. end of story.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

When mama ain't happy, ain't no-body happy. :D

[Strangelet]

When mama ain't happy, ain't no-body happy. :D
hey don't let me piss in your punch bowl. party away. great movie.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Zart undt bitter.

[Strangelet]

Zart undt bitter.

fine and please? quois?

[sanblaster]

Great movie. Great visuals. Completely believable in terms of human degradation (Abhu Grhaib anyone?).

*spoilers?


The long part taken in one shot near the end reminded me a lot of what the Yugoslavian War must have looked like. A lot.












*

[BeautifulBurnout]

there's a difference between exploiting anxieties and examining them. If you don't agree, then yeah there's nothing new to observe is there? The movie was slickly produced, beautifully executed, well directed, well acted, and didn't say a fucking thing. And kid cue is right, some of it is too timely to be believable and that's mainly because it was forced in to maximize the exploitation, not because it actually meant something to the story. Eikman is also right, if you don't say anything you end up with a fucking zombie movie, so why even have the pretense and bill it as some provoking dystopian film when its a summer movie horror film. end of story.

Having (at long last) seen this movie on dvd a coupla weeks ago, I can see where you are coming from, Strangelet. I wonder how much of it is a cultural thing though? This film "said" a lot to me because it appeared to be taking real issues that are currently headlining in the UK and taking them just one or two steps forward - not exaggerated beyond belief imo, but logical simple progressions. So in that respect, for me, it doesn't take huge leaps of faith to be very believable.

All in all, I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would.