THE END OF THE WORLD WEEK FOR THE CHILDREN OF MEN

I have to admit, there was a lot of hype about this particular dystopia. I mean, it was praised to the skies, nominated for three Oscars ® and miscellaneous awards, over half the people I know watched and said it was one of the best films they ever watched. So I thought it would be only fitting to put it in here. It is, after all, the most recent dystopia out of the three and has the added bonus of being, in my mind, the most realistic. That is partly due to the fact of it being so recent, so we can draw clear ties with the problems we have today. The film presents what could (unfortunately) logically be “worst outcome” scenarios involving things that happen today. I mean, yes I grant you, given the vagueness in “Time Of The Wolf”, we can’t really say that isn’t realistic either, but the difference between this film and Time of The Wolf is that Time of The Wolf has the people and the effects of the disaster on the people in the foreground; it is a psychological dystopia if you will. Children of Men is all about the disaster and, in true Hollywood style (it is a British film but all the same), “fixing” the disaster. Of course in Time of the Wolf people aren’t trying to fix anything just trying to survive, and that is what makes the film so tough to watch; it’s bleak, there is no end in sight. Children of Men, however, does provide “a cure”. And unfortunately, for that reason, a film that starts out with one heck of a lot of promise and originality, spirals down into something quite cliché – with a few Biblical references thrown in for good measure. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let me give you a lowdown of the story first…
The year is 2027 and we are in London. The world has, basically, gone to pot. An “infertility” pandemic has taken over; no human beings have been born for the last 18 years. All the doctors in all the lands are powerless; the human race is, for all intents and purposes, dying out. Chaos, in the meanwhile, has taken over. Governments like Britain crack down on illegal immigrants, refugee camps have sprung up all over the country where the “fugees” live in ghettos and are shipped out of the country. Anti-government activism is rife, bombings and raids a day to day occurrence, pollution is everywhere, you get the general picture… Theo is separated from his wife Julia. Julia has gone underground and has joined the anti-government fight. Theo has lost faith and just gets on with his life. Until, that is, Julia contacts him and asks for his help. A girl needs to be escorted to meet the mysterious “Human Project” and he is the only one she trusts to obtain the necessary papers to travel through the country. Theo is dubious at first but it becomes obvious that bigger things are at stake, because this girl may well be the key to the salvation of humanity… The problem is, she is a refugee and must be kept safe from the government. But it will not take Theo long to understand that the government aren’t the only ones trying to get their hands on this woman… The future of humanity is, for all intents and purposes, in their hands…
You may have, on reading the plotline, wondered what was so “original” about the film. I mean, you don’t have to be a genius to guess why the woman holds the key to human survival, right? Yes, yes, she’s pregnant (you still don’t know whether they get her to safety or not though, so I technically didn’t tell you the end). But there are lovely little touches about the possible future world that are given out within the first 15 “introduction” minutes of the film that draws one straight in. For example, now the government distributes “suicide kits” for people in depression, allowing you to take your own life in the comfort of your own home, with no mess. What else? In the first 10 minutes again, we learn the youngest person in the world, an 18 year-old, has just died. The entire world is in mourning (don’t worry, this is not integral to the storyline AT ALL J ) Remember when Lady Diana died? Heck, any celebrity? Nice dystopic poke at the phenomenon there, Theo uses the excuse to get off work early because “he is distraught” J Oh and there are these funny little “rickshaws” made up with motorbikes all over the roads. There still are cars and busses but obviously they have been stopped at some point, the cars are quite old. And the whole theme itself is also good, I mean, we are responsible for entire species dying out, why not humans? Especially with this “aging population” all around Europe and the developed world, it isn’t unthinkable at all, scary but true.
But the clichés bleed through straight away. The anti-government stance of the film is a given of course. There is the unavoidable old hippy acquaintance of Theo’s that gets them out of a scrape or two (the inimitable Michael Cane, the only possible excuse for this characters existence is the fact that he is played by such a great actor). And of course the reason why Theo and his ex-wife went their separate ways (yes, yes again you got me; their son died). And then, completely out of the blue, there are the Biblical references. I mean, putting aside the obvious one of a baby whose very existence is a miracle bringing hope and salvation to the human race (note here that the reference is made obvious by the mother herself joking about it, teasing Theo who asks who the father was by saying “there is no father I was a virgin” and then bursting out laughing). There is the activist that helps Theo and Kee (oh yes, the mother’s name is Kee. As in key. Get it?) to escape Miriam (Miriam is the name of the sister of Moses and leader of the Hebrew women during the Exodus) who just so happens to be a midwife. She is leading her out of an oppressive and scary state (Egypt reconstructed as Great Britain) to, wait for it, the Human Project that will pick her up on a… Boat. (Moses in the reeds anyone?) And then there is one scene, right at the end, where the crowds admire and “adore” the baby. Now, I have seen this being interpreted as a throwback to Rosemary’s Baby, but I am not too darn sure about that. And of course the very name of the film. (Children of Man / Children Of Israel – there is the second connection with the children two of course, but such things are rarely coincidental in this business). Unfortunately, that is where the philosophical “similes” end. I do wish the director had gone deeper with the theme, I mean why not, but if there was any further depth to the film I missed it. And yet the presence of the previous parallels are so obvious that their presence without any further basis is confusing – they confused me at any rate… The director then mixes in various parallels with the Iraq war (some parallels with the infamous Abu Ghraib prison cannot escape even the most undiscerning viewer). And of course these make sense seeing as this is an anti-government film but… I don’t know, too many themes spoil the broth if you ask me…
In short, I admire what director Alfonso Cuaron Has set out to do. Unfortunately, I feel he hasn’t quite finished the job. I do understand that there is a lot to say on these things but why, oh why did he feel he needed to say the whole lot at once? Fewer “messages” would have salvaged the original themes that are present in the beginning of the film, making it a whole lot better than it is. Wasted potential. Watch it. You will like it. I’m just saying you could like it one heck of a lot more…