Children of Men

[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]

Originally Posted by 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....

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

WTF 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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

Originally Posted by GreenPea

WTF 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]

Originally Posted by GreenPea

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.