Children Of Men

Children of Men starts off with a very powerful beginning, drawing in viewers and captivating them till the very end. Taking us into a normal day of an average man simply craving a coffee and gaining a near-death-experience in return, Children of Men proves the dangerous circumstances citizens of Britain were facing at the time and how helpless they were to their fate. There are many features the director, Alfonso Curon, took into consideration in an attempt to make this fact shown. The first and foremost is the use of colour, or more so, the lack there of. By using an extreme greyscale pallet it both symbolizes and reflects the pain and sorrow felt by society. There is no hope in their lives, no yellow stream of light to follow. In addition to use of colour, camera technique is another key factor of this film. The scenes in which the camera has a shaky, bloodstained, documentary, style to them adds to the audiences’ ability to feel as if they are experiencing these tragic events alongside the characters. It gives us a quick taste of a warzone atmosphere and keeps us on our toes in suspense waiting for the next human body to fly across the screen. The third, and most effective in my opinion, feature used to make the film realistic is the producers capability of controlling our emotions. Alfonso absorbs a large amount of sympathy from the audience through portraying a dirty, messy, poverty-stricken environment society is forced to call home. We feel disgust and hate towards the government for having immigrants detained behind gates and enslaved in alien camps, stamping them with a less-than-human status. 

 The most terrifying situation possible to encounter includes not only the idea of infertility itself, yet realizing you and everyone around you are hopeless in finding a solution; coming to the realization there is nothing you can do to change the course of your life or humanity itself. When matters become too great for our hands; they stay out of our hands forever. Though our nation is not swept with infertility, the fear behind it is what becomes a very probable worry for our future. Children represent hope, new beginnings, and a fresh start. By taking that away you take away any little fragment left of faith, any motive to live on and achieve something greater. Bearing children is the sole purpose we are put on this earth, by losing the ability to give birth; we lose a touch of humanity and welcome in barbarianism.

What I really enjoyed in this film was the fact that it wasn’t your typical, rosy, we-all-live-happily-ever-after, rather there were many tragic twists to it. For starters, Julian and Theo’s love isn’t exactly what you would call your Hollywood romance, it was dented and complicated yet sweet at the same time. In addition, a large amount of characters that we grow emotionally attached to end up murdered in cold blood leaving us with the feeling of remorse. Another surprising twist I didn’t see coming was the bad faith of the Fishies, the idea that people you invest your trust and life with are not who you believe. To me, the originality of this film is what made it worthwhile.

Though as a whole I greatly enjoyed this film, there were aspects to it I was not as fond of. I thought it very unrealistic that the world seemed to halt around Kee and her baby as soon as they were seen. There was a mystic sort of force field surrounding them as they passed guaranteeing them safety, whereas in reality they would be prime targets. In addition, it seemed highly unlikely that Theo would be able to dodge the thousands of bullets being shot at him, especially while fashioning flip flops. Furthermore, though I understand the intentions behind leaving out details to keep the audience wondering, I personally would have liked to gain some background information on what happened to Britain making it so disastrous.  I am highly curious to know what would cause a world to become infertile and am forced to believe producers lacked a believable story and therefore left it unknown

This film shows the realistic side of being a hero, the side usually overshadowed and overlooked. Being a hero comes with great consequences, consequences that sometimes, do not even let you see the outcome of your accomplishments.