Author Topic: EP Review: Children of Men (Read 25443 times)

SFEley · **on:** January 17, 2007, 03:21:21 AM

A film by Alfonso Cuarón.

Reviewed by "Eva," Ramona Broussard, and Jonathon Sullivan.

Bdoomed · **Reply #1 on:** January 17, 2007, 04:57:10 AM

gotta say, watchin the movie i was both horrified, entertained, exhilerated, and impressed at the same time. That movie was a great one, so much in it!

i recommend this movie to anyone, just... be prepared!

wakela · **Reply #2 on:** January 18, 2007, 09:35:09 AM

I thought the guy reviewer (sorry I forgot his name) spent a little too much time on reviewing the current state of the world rather than the movie...

Ryuujin · **Reply #3 on:** January 22, 2007, 12:02:07 PM

I would have to agree with Wakala, in some respects.

But fact of the matter is that we are almost always forced to look at our own world compared to that of fiction to discuss it - and if there's one thing this movie invites to, it's doing exactly that. That's part of what makes this story so good.

wakela · **Reply #4 on:** January 22, 2007, 12:28:34 PM

Yeah, I haven't seen the movie, so my point is not very defendable.

Also, I strongly disagree with the reviewer's comment that we are just one market crash away form the nightmare world the movie is supposedly set in, which is just my personal thing. Probably if he said something that I happened to agree with I wouldn't have commented.

Bdoomed · **Reply #5 on:** January 23, 2007, 05:49:14 AM

Quote from: wakela on January 22, 2007, 12:28:34 PM

Yeah, I haven't seen the movie, so my point is not very defendable.

Also, I strongly disagree with the reviewer's comment that we are just one market crash away form the nightmare world the movie is supposedly set in, which is just my personal thing. Probably if he said something that I happened to agree with I wouldn't have commented.

if you saw the movie you'd agree with him... the movie is completely believeable. not so much the infertility, but more the condition of the world. its very believeable. scarlily so.

Alasdair5000 · **Reply #6 on:** January 23, 2007, 01:02:37 PM

Quote from: Bdoomed on January 23, 2007, 05:49:14 AM

Quote from: wakela on January 22, 2007, 12:28:34 PM
Yeah, I haven't seen the movie, so my point is not very defendable.

Also, I strongly disagree with the reviewer's comment that we are just one market crash away form the nightmare world the movie is supposedly set in, which is just my personal thing. Probably if he said something that I happened to agree with I wouldn't have commented.
if you saw the movie you'd agree with him... the movie is completely believeable. not so much the infertility, but more the condition of the world. its very believeable. scarlily so.

Oh absolutely. That's what I really liked about it, the almost banal, gradual way that the world was winding down. The trains still run on time, there's just bars on the windows now, that sort of thing. Tremendous movie, colossally depressing and uplifting at the same time and final conclusive proof that Clive Owen is one of the most interesting leading men in Hollywood today.

Ananzi · **Reply #7 on:** January 26, 2007, 09:03:11 AM

I thought it was interesting that none of the reviewers mentions the Abu Ghraib inspired scenes in the prison camp.

Ramona · **Reply #8 on:** January 26, 2007, 04:10:10 PM

Quote from: Ananzi on January 26, 2007, 09:03:11 AM

I thought it was interesting that none of the reviewers mentions the Abu Ghraib inspired scenes in the prison camp.

I think for me it was hard to fit in everything I wanted to say in under 1000 words. I also didn't know what the other reviewers would be saying, so I didn't want to get too scattered. I was hoping you guys on the forums would point out any holes.

Christian allegory was another thing I was sort of hoping would come out on the comments page. (I don't think it was an allegory.) There was a lot of depth to this movie, so it was hard to review in that sense.

Paul Campbell · **Reply #9 on:** January 27, 2007, 08:10:08 PM

I didn't know much about this film before I went to see it when it came out here in the UK back in August. It was a near-future story by crime writer P.D. James where everyone had become infertile. I was interested to see how James had done in SF.

From the moment the camera follows Theo out of the crowded coffee shop and we got a glimpse of the grimy streets of London I was happy. I admit that to that point I'd only been impressed by the special effects. But I think it was more than that. The set dressing that had been done on that street helped to set the tone and revealed a very high quality of production. From there it just got better.

There were a lot of elements in the background of virtually every shot that revealed, or suggested, at the detail of this future. Definitely worth re-watching on DVD. Which I, coincidentally, bought less than an hour ago.

RA · **Reply #10 on:** February 03, 2007, 11:51:04 PM

Coming from Britain, I saw a lot of quiet humour in the film, mixed with a truly scary projection of current trends.

Thaurismunths · **Reply #11 on:** February 04, 2007, 08:53:36 PM

Yes, yes, that's all very good. But what's with the burning cows?? ; )

fiveyearwinter · **Reply #12 on:** February 07, 2007, 01:26:38 PM

This movie was extremely tough. England is bleak as IS (no offense to our British friends out there!), but this was almost too much. I just kept thinking about how I wouldn't want to live in a society like this.

Despite the horrible poverty and totalitarian rule, the movie offered quite a bit of hope. I found myself holding my breath for part of it, and tears filling my eyes at another. Quite the rollercoaster.

Thaurismunths · **Reply #13 on:** February 07, 2007, 02:55:21 PM

Quote from: fiveyearwinter on February 07, 2007, 01:26:38 PM

This movie was extremely tough. England is bleak as IS (no offense to our British friends out there!), but this was almost too much. I just kept thinking about how I wouldn't want to live in a society like this.

Bexhill reminded me (and I'm sure it was intentional) of both Nazi Germany and what I saw of Baghdad.

fiveyearwinter · **Reply #14 on:** February 07, 2007, 03:47:56 PM

The only movie I've seen that was LESS obvious about the parallels was V for Vendetta (which I didn't care for all that much, surprisingly).

Paul Campbell · **Reply #15 on:** February 22, 2007, 12:22:48 PM

Quote from: Thaurismunths on February 04, 2007, 08:53:36 PM

Yes, yes, that's all very good. But what's with the burning cows?? ; )

I recent years we have had scares involving CJD, Mad Cow Disease. The containment measures include culls of all nearby livestock. In CoM I took it to be an indicator that similar such outbreaks were still happening.

Thaurismunths · **Reply #16 on:** February 22, 2007, 12:48:39 PM

Quote from: Paul Campbell on February 22, 2007, 12:22:48 PM

Quote from: Thaurismunths on February 04, 2007, 08:53:36 PM
Yes, yes, that's all very good. But what's with the burning cows?? ; )

I recent years we have had scares involving CJD, Mad Cow Disease. The containment measures include culls of all nearby livestock. In CoM I took it to be an indicator that similar such outbreaks were still happening.

That's a pretty viable option.
My thoughts were that the population was shrinking, so they had to cull the herds.

Russell Nash · **Reply #17 on:** February 22, 2007, 07:27:29 PM

Quote from: Thaurismunths on February 22, 2007, 12:48:39 PM

Quote from: Paul Campbell on February 22, 2007, 12:22:48 PM
Quote from: Thaurismunths on February 04, 2007, 08:53:36 PM
Yes, yes, that's all very good. But what's with the burning cows?? ; )

I recent years we have had scares involving CJD, Mad Cow Disease. The containment measures include culls of all nearby livestock. In CoM I took it to be an indicator that similar such outbreaks were still happening.

That's a pretty viable option.
My thoughts were that the population was shrinking, so they had to cull the herds.

I didn't see the movie. When he asked about the cows, I thought it was a Monty Pythonesque joke.

Jim · **Reply #18 on:** March 06, 2007, 04:28:26 PM

If you haven't seen the movie and you're a SF fan of nearly any stripe, I think you should try to see it.

It's incredibly thought-provoking. I saw it at the cinema months ago and I still find myself musing about the implications of its premise.

Unblinking · **Reply #19 on:** October 18, 2010, 02:12:20 PM

This was a great movie. For the first half I was mostly just along for the ride, not really involved, though the story was being told well and had strong characters and a strong setting.

The part where I really got involved was:
SPOILER (HIGHLIGHT TO SHOW):

1. When they're riding on the train, and one of the characters is dragged off, and has a bag put over her head, and she drops out of sight as the train pulls away. I think she may have been executed on the spot, but I may be misremembering, if not it's pretty clear she won't be alive much longer) None of the other characters say a word or move to act because doing so would just doom them along with her. That scared the hell out of me.

2. After that I was really engaged, but the most amazing scene came later, one which left me with chills in a way that movies rarely do. When they're in the middle of the war zone and the baby starts crying, and the fighting just stops. The sound of a baby crying is so foreign and wondrous that it literally stops the fighting in its tracks and both sides just stare in awe as the baby is carried through. No matter which side you were on, hope is enough for you to abandon your orders, however momentarily, to help hope along its way. Wow.

yicheng · **Reply #20 on:** October 26, 2010, 04:54:02 PM

Quote from: Unblinking on October 18, 2010, 02:12:20 PM

This was a great movie. For the first half I was mostly just along for the ride, not really involved, though the story was being told well and had strong characters and a strong setting.

The part where I really got involved was:
SPOILER (HIGHLIGHT TO SHOW):

1. When they're riding on the train, and one of the characters is dragged off, and has a bag put over her head, and she drops out of sight as the train pulls away. I think she may have been executed on the spot, but I may be misremembering, if not it's pretty clear she won't be alive much longer) None of the other characters say a word or move to act because doing so would just doom them along with her. That scared the hell out of me.

2. After that I was really engaged, but the most amazing scene came later, one which left me with chills in a way that movies rarely do. When they're in the middle of the war zone and the baby starts crying, and the fighting just stops. The sound of a baby crying is so foreign and wondrous that it literally stops the fighting in its tracks and both sides just stare in awe as the baby is carried through. No matter which side you were on, hope is enough for you to abandon your orders, however momentarily, to help hope along its way. Wow.

1. She wasn't executed that we saw, but right after we see the hood put on her, the bus rolls by an area where they're lining up dead bodies (presumably having been summarily executed as terrorists).
2. I loved that part too! And how complete strangers would just stop in their tracks, all the while bullets and tank shells and flying through the building. The clincher was when someone fires a shot from a building, and then immediately the fighting starts up again like it never ended. I imagine that's what the Christmass Truce of WW1 must have been like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

I loved this movie, too! Both depressing and hopeful at the same time. Depressing in that we're just a few 9-11's away from that kind of anarchy and total societal collapse, and hopeful in that the human spirit and basic decency will still survive that and shine through.

And BTW if any nation could survive that, it would be the British.

wakela · **Reply #21 on:** November 22, 2010, 05:07:44 AM

Quote from: wakela on January 22, 2007, 12:28:34 PM

Yeah, I haven't seen the movie, so my point is not very defendable.

Also, I strongly disagree with the reviewer's comment that we are just one market crash away form the nightmare world the movie is supposedly set in, which is just my personal thing. Probably if he said something that I happened to agree with I wouldn't have commented.

[dick]I wrote that almost four years ago. Since then there is been a market crash, and we are not really any closer to Children of Men style oppression or violence.[/dick]

eytanz · **Reply #22 on:** November 22, 2010, 09:01:02 AM

You know, I've been silent on this thread for quite a while, but I've heard and seen other mentions to this movie.

I feel like the only person who saw the movie and thought that while it was not bad as a movie, it was incredibly stupid and unrealistic in its portrayal of human behavior. It erred both in its pessimism - the behaviors depicted in the movie are plausible and people have done the same and much worse, but not for the type of reasons depicted - and its optimism (esp. the scene in the end where the fighting stops because of the baby).

My main issues with the premise are the following:

- People adapt to new situations far quicker than the movie assumed. If, indeed, all human reproduction would suddenly cease, people would be deeply disturbed for a few days and return to life as usual within a few months.

- If there were no new babies, then population levels would start dropping. There would be less competition for resources, not more. Within a decade, most of the poor parts of the world would be less poor, and there would be less immigration pressure, not more. There would be a problem again in 50-60 years once the population capable of doing physical labor becomes too small to be managable, but at the timepoint depicted by the movie, things would have still been fine.

Since I couldn't buy the premise, I couldn't invest any emotional depth in what was happening. The movie felt to me as silly and artificial as the latter Die Hard movies. Passable entertainment, yes - but why a lot of intelligent people seem to think it shows any level of profundity I have no idea.

Scattercat · **Reply #23 on:** November 22, 2010, 09:29:04 AM

Quote from: eytanz on November 22, 2010, 09:01:02 AM

Since I couldn't buy the premise, I couldn't invest any emotional depth in what was happening. The movie felt to me as silly and artificial as the latter Die Hard movies. Passable entertainment, yes - but why a lot of intelligent people seem to think it shows any level of profundity I have no idea.

Because it was earnestly trying to be profound, and some people like that. (When a woman and the Hope of Humanity as personified by a perfect child are adrift in a boat with a man named THEO who may or may not be dead, well, you've got someone trying to be Deep right there. You got your Eve, you got your virgin birth, you got boats and oceans, you got the future, and you got lots and lots of ways to write wanky ten-page papers at 1 a.m. the night before they're due.)

eytanz · **Reply #24 on:** November 22, 2010, 09:37:57 AM

But I guess that's part of what bothers me - the movie is clearly trying *so hard*. It felt to me like the moviemakers didn't really know how to make a movie that says something, but they really wanted to, so they went ahead and made a movie then put signposts all over the place that said "THIS IS SO DEEP!" and "CAREFUL! SUBTEXT AHEAD!"

Author Topic: EP Review: Children of Men (Read 25443 times)

Ryuujin

Russell Nash