Children of Men

Year: 2006
Running time: 109 minutes
Certificate: 15
Language: English
Screenplay: Alfonso Cauron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
Director: Alfonso Cauron
Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine

Dave.


The handheld camerawork places the viewer right in
the thick of the aciton.

This film is truly stunning, although at times difficult to watch. The ultra-realism of the violence reminds the viewer uneasily of Saving Private Ryan - if you didn't know better, you would swear the people onscreen were genuinely being shot to pieces. The idea of this hell being a baby's first hours in the world is a very uncomfortable thing to be exposed to. The film is set in possibly the most depressingly realistic vision of the future yet filmed, forgoing the beautiful dystopias of Blade Runner and every film it influenced and the clean cut, poverty-less vision of Star Trek for a civilisation that has de-evolved into a hellish place with more in common with the Third Reich than anything else. Everyone not from the country they are in is breaking the law simply by existing and are rounded up, kept in cells or forced to live in lawless ghettos. Only a few terrorist resistance cells remain of the illegal immigrants. Clive Owen plays Theo Faron, an average man who gets involved with an attempt to smuggle a miraculously pregnant woman to safety after reuniting with an old girlfriend. Handheld camerawork and long takes serve to raise the intensity of the impressively staged set pieces.

It's not without humour, however, for which I was very grateful. Michael Caine is a highlight as Jasper, a wood-dwelling drug dealer who is never far away from cracking a fart joke. Clive Owen also has his moments, for example escaping his would-be killers by rolling a car downhill to get it started - it's funny and tense at the same time.

Owen, incidentally, is a marvel. Pulled by events out of his control and being forced to run for his life during the first two thirds, when he actually takes matters into his own hands to drag the mother and child out of the war zone he manages to mix dignity and bravery with terror to staggering effect. A must see.

Score: 8/10

Rachel.

Our desolate future?

What's truly disturbing is that this film is so realistic. I could almost imagine this as our bleak future; a world without children, our own thoughtlessness and greed leading to pollution, war and infertility. The grey, drained colours that make up the landscape mirror the mood throughout. It's very violent and at times difficult to watch but the story also leads the viewer to the conclusion that life by its nature gives hope - in this case in the form of a young woman pregnant with a 'miracle child'. Michael Caine acts perfectly to lighten the mood. The story, direction and brilliant acting in this film make me agree with Dave - "A must see", but perhaps have something more lighthearted on standby to restore your faith in humanity afterwards. Scrubs, perhaps?

Score: 7/10

Damon at Empire & Roger Ebert seem to agree.