Children of Men
You have to love sick days. I know I do. It finally allowed me to catch up on some movies I’ve been wanting to watch. One of which is ‘Children of Men.’ Going into it, I had little idea what it was about — I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
In 2009, a fertility crisis struck the entire world resulting in no new babies being born. This film takes place almost 20 years later, 2027, in London. Because of the fertility crisis, and other political events, the world is in chaos and the human race is slowly dying out. London, as the movie says “The world has collapsed. Only Britain soldiers on,” is the now the world’s center. It’s strict immigration laws and policies has resulted in the country rounding up all illegal immigrants and placing them in refugee camps — more like ghettos.
Theo is a 30-something man working for the government. He’s an individual who holds much of his feelings in, and just goes about his miserable day after miserable day. Theo does break down a few times in the movie (when people close to him get killed), but quickly covers up his feelings upon confrontation with others.
One normal miserable day, Theo is kidnapped by the Fishes — a terrorist group responsible for, well, terrorist activities. Turns out, the leader of the Fishes is Theo’s ex-wife — whom he had a child with, but the baby died some twenty years ago due to a flu epidemic. Theo is bribed by his ex-wife, Julian, to provide transmit papers for a female member of their group, Kee.
Kee, as it turns out, is pregnant.
The movie takes you on an emotional roller-coaster (like we haven’t heard that line before, Mike). Theo and Kee make arrangements to get aboard a boat, “The Human Project.” Essentially a floating safe house free from political injustice, immigration, and the like — somewhere Kee can raise her baby without the scrutiny of the world and without government’s trying to seize the baby for medical tests. Through the roller-coaster, you’ll see many ups and downs — both violence and emotional wise.
Before the end of the film, Theo and Kee are walking through the ghetto. The baby is crying loudly as the British soldiers look on. Many are in awe — gazing at the baby, making the sign of the cross, kneeling before the baby. You almost believe that this one baby could stop the war and all the injustices being performed. But a few seconds later, war breaks out again. And just like that, all peace has been removed. It kind of makes you think that no matter what, there will always be a war being fought.
By far, ‘Children of Men’ is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time. Yes, it’s that good. It’s not going to really leave you with a feel-good ending (although Kee and her baby do make it to the safe boat), but it’s going to make your eyes open a bit wider to what’s actually occurring in our world right now.
In the movie, there are several political jabs at Bush and the United States government. To name a few: the war and occupation of Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison torturing, political stance on immigration. But the fact that this movie takes place in England only goes to show that political injustice can occur anywhere and everywhere. However, early in the movie, look for the clues that are telling you that America is already at war with itself and is actually now (2027 now) a police state.
If I had some stars to give the movie, I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5.
