Film: Children of Men

This has me excited. Clive Owen's a gritty bastard at the best of times... but I think he'll be ace in this film... and from what I've heard, Michael Caine plays his part (a hippie stoner) with relish. Beyond the cast, there's an excellent storyline... and one that I can't wait to see!

"Children of Men" envisages a world one generation from now that has fallen into anarchy on the heels of an infertility defect in the population. The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set against a backdrop of London torn apart by violence and warring nationalistic sects, "Children of Men" follows an unlikely champion of Earth's survival: Theo (Owen), a disillusioned ex-activist turned bureaucrat, who is forced to face his own demons and protect the planet's last remaining hope - a woman who has mysteriously became pregnant.

IMDB Listing: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/

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The trailer to this looks VERY interesting. I share your excitement tamboman.

I saw this film a week ago and was VERY impressed. The best I've seen this year, I'd say - a very interesting concept which is also almost unbearably tense throughout. The terrorist bombing scenes are very sjocking indeed, and the final, climatic battle (which was filmed continuously by one, single cameraman chasing the main character for the entire sequence) is stunning. Five fucking stars, for sure.

hmmmm, Thick as a Planck,
you must not live in the U.S., because the movie doesn't come out here until december
I think it looks fucking amazing though, and I can't wait to see it.

Oh yeah, and I love the symphonic version of Gimme Shelter right in the beginning of the preview!!! awesome song.

Yeah, I'm from the UK. Slightly ironic because we nearly always have to wait an extra three months to see films after you guys in the US. So it's nice to get things first for once... I'm guessing 'The Queen' won't be out over there yet either... but I doubt many Americans would find that very interesting anyway, TBH.

I hear you on the timing thing. We do get alot of movies here first inthe U.S., but sometimes, they are only released in "select cities" which means New York and LA, and not me, so unless I want to drive 4 hours, I have to wait until basically the same time you do. I have seen previews for the queen, and I'll def. see it when it comes out in the store. There are so many movies I am anticipating the arrival of.
The Queen looks pretty good, but have you seen that piece of trash called Marie Antoinette made by that spoiled bitch sofia coppola coming out? messed up thing is, MA will probably overshadow the queen.

I'm bumping this cause I really want to see it: a) cause it sounds like a cool premise, b) because Clive Owen is hot, and c) because Julianne Moore is one of my favourite actors EVAR!

I am very looking forward to it.

(PS those above points may not be in order of importance)

OK... so I saw this last night.

I don't wish to over-sell this film, but it's probably one of the best films I've seen in a ciniema for the last year.

Let me make this clear: The film is just drenched in Kubrick-ism. There's absolutely no way of getting away from it... if Kubrick had been directing this from the grave, it really wouldn't have surprised me. On top of those influences, the Ridley Scott/Bladerunner influence is also quite clear - particularly in the scenes that involve the protagonist's home and in the squalour of the refugee camps. Add into that mix the same bleakness and urban realism of 28 days later (though without the cruddy acting) and you have a fairly terrifying vision of the year 2027.

The film wisely doesn't predict a spangly vision of 2027, nor does it show an absurdly decayed dystopia. In many ways, much of Britain looks the same - as do the customs and rituals of it's inhabitants. Ths isn't an alien world... it's home. The use of CGI is employed to create this effect, however, it isn't the best CGI. In some places it looks too compuer generated, but it's use is quite conservative (no doubt not to emotionally distance the viewer from the possibility of this vision being a reality).

The camera work is totally Kubrick, with shades of "A Clockwork Orange" - a fact that seems almost intentional, particularly in the scene with the art gallery. From that homage, the latter half of the film also conjures up thoughts of Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket", as the war torn country and refugee camps pull themselves apart. It's truly distressing to see the later scenes... dredged up memories of news reports of the Bosnian war. There's a hefty dose of Schindler's List in there too.

I can't emphasise enough the emotional effect the film had on me. Perhaps because I'm British, perhaps because I see the seeds of fascism in British politics that make it all seem so much closer to home... but there was a certain scene...

...where I actually uttered the first word of a three word sentence: "You..."

Before I stopped myself having realised that I was speaking out loud in a cinema! Had I finished the sentence, it would have been: "You fucking fascists".

Not something I say lightly.

This is a film that makes me want to see it again. There's so many themes in the film (human need for violence, saviours being as their oppressors, etc), but there's also a quite blatant religious factor. It's been a while since my eyes actually watered during a film (hey... I never said I cried), but the final few battle scenes are something to behold.

I'm sure I'm not doing it true justice, but if any of the films I've mentioned as reference points are films that you hold in regard... I'm almost certain you'll get a kick out of Children of Men.

See it.

I'm a sucker for long continuous camera shots, and this movie had them in spades. I loved the one with the car in reverse

The cinematography and visual style as a whole was fucking excellent.

I have to give the dissenting voice - I thought it was a fantastic, wonderful idea - really poorly executed.

Visually it is stunning at times, yet there is no attempt to explain the situation at all. It smacked of lazy writing throughout.

score:
3/10

best movie ive seen in i cant remember how long!
but then again, im down with dystoptia...

I saw this trailer a while ago and honestly, the thing that got me most excited was the use of Sigur Ros music. :D

awesome film. brilliantly executed imo. the sheer complexity of some of the extended shots was quite breathtaking. it loses some pace halfway through but picks up again in spades.

walking home thinking about it, it has inspired me to write a parody, which i am doing now.
4.5/5

i loved the pink floyd "animals" reference

Poll added

my parody entitled "children of arse" is now posted and can be read in the words and lounge forums.
enjoy :D

This was a pretty interesting and original movie. I'd probably rate it a 4/5

wonder what a sequel to this movie be like?... 8)

im gonna bump this and make a "movie of the year" call!
:D

ive been telling people its a thinking persons action movie.
and i keep drawing paralles to that movie 'the Pianist' because of its realism.
The way it puts you in the scene - almost in real-time, and narrowly avoiding death at every corner.

^good call i say

I saw this last night at a screening in the States and I guess I'll be the first to say I felt a little let-down. I agree that the premise and the actual shooting of the film was really impressive but I thought the diolouge, acting (especially Julianne Moore -- wtf? usually a great actress!), and the premise being explained 32x by each character (ok, it wasn't *that* bad) really dulled down the film. I still enjoyed it but from what I had read on here I thought I'd be completely blown away.

As a side note, I was a little dissapointed by the fact that sigur ros wasn't played whatsoever throughout the film, just the trailer.