Children of Men (2006)


Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006)


Director: Alfonso Cuarón


Cast: Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi as Baby Diego (as Juan Yacuzzi), Mishal Husain as Newsreader, Rob Curling as Newsreader, Jon Chevalier as Café Customer, Rita Davies as Café Customer, Kim Fenton as Café Customer, Chris Gilbert as Café Customer, Phoebe Hawthorne as Café Customer, Rebecca Howard as Café Customer, Atalanta White as Café Customer (as Atlanta White), Laurence Woodbridge as Café Customer, Clive Owen as Theo Faron, Maria McErlane as Shirley, Michael Haughey as Mr. Griffiths, Paul Sharma as Ian



Worthy addition to a very British literary, televisual and cinematic
tradition of dystopian and apocalyptic narratives. H.G Wells, John
Wyndham, SURVIVORS, 28 DAYS LATER.

These texts are revealing of the times in which they were made. Rather
than looking forwards,they re often, at heart, deeply conservative.
They frequently express a desire for a world where the centralised,
industrial society has broken down entirely, replaced by an agrarian
based model comprising small, rural communities. These narratives
coincided with the rise in 'alternative ' lifestyles, interest in self
sufficiency, organic farming, low technology and a different
relationship with the Earth. Nostalgia for a pre Industrial past is
more prominent than hope and anticipation of a glorious new future when
civilisations been destroyed for a new, better world to emerge.

The grand narratives which we once imagined were going to change and
improve the world no longer seem credible. Following the collapse of
communism, there's a distrust of ideologies, especially those of the
left. Arguably, the left has collapsed in the Western World. Thats the
context this film arrives in, one where there seems no meaningfully
effective counterbalance to the continued dominance of global
capitalism, media saturation and environmental meltdown.

Arguably this film offers some hope but my overall impression is of
something a lot bleaker than other apocalypse narratives. Without
children there is, literally, no future left. Although emerging from a
different context, this film shares with its predecessors a thoroughly
revealing indication of the concerns preoccupying the time in which it
was made.

Two scenes haunted me. The man in Battersea, isolated with his art
collection and the set pieces of the illegal immigrants, rounded up and
caged.

The Battersea scene uses its location and choice of Picasso's Gernika
painting in the background to make a searing comment on a civilisation
which, despite its pretensions to Art and Culture, has managed to
engineer its own extinction. A civilisation whose intellectual and
cultural elites, instead of challenging the prevailing discourse,
isolate themselves, collusive in a form of collective denial.

The illegals scene is composed in such a way as to recreate images from
the War on Terror, images which are now iconic. Both scenes link
together through use of the painting which is an inspired device. This
is definitely a movie to watch and work at. I was also intrigued by the
recurring animals, and reminded of Tarkovsky, whose work is
consistently loaded with symbolism. The scene at the empty, abandoned
school was very reminiscent of the Russian director. Also praiseworthy
is the astonishing use of sound, particularly in one of the key scenes
when dogs can be heard barking in the distance.

Another haunting image is that of the flowers and wreaths laid very
early on, after the youngest person on earth has died. Reminiscent of
the mawkishness, sentimentality and mass hysteria of those laying
floral tributes to murder victims they never knew, the so called 'Diana
effect'. Again, a clear reference to todays world.

This is an outstanding piece of film making, I agree totally with
previous reviewers comments, especially regarding the battle scenes,
which have an immediacy, bringing to mind COME AND SEE or APOCALYPSE
NOW. I ll give the last word to Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian newspapers
film critic who called this 'a thinking persons action movie.'

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