A World Without Children is a World With No Future
By MICHELLE L.
satine81(at)aol.com
Children of Men (2006)
How would mankind react to the possibility of extinction? Some turn to God, some turn to violence, and others just wait to die. Theo (Clive Owen of Closer and King Arthur), a man who was once an activist against injustice, loses his will to fight after “chance” deals him a tragic hand. Indifference sets in as he waits for life to complete its course, but once again, “chance” has another plan for him.
This movie begins in London in the year 2027, and Baby Diego has just died. Baby Diego is an 18-year-old boy from Argentina who is the youngest person on the planet. He is stabbed by an obsessed fan who is denied an autograph. Everyone is crying, shrines are put up on the street. The public reaction is equivalent to the assassination of JFK or the untimely death of Princess Diana. Theo, a government worker, makes his way through a crowd of mourners staring up at the TV to buy a cup of coffee. He seems indifferent to the tragedy, and says that Baby Diego was a “wanker” anyway.
The next day, on his way to work, a group of men assault him, covering his head with a black hood and throwing him into a van. They identify themselves as the Fishes, a activist group who fight on behalf of “fugees” (refugees/immigrants). With the world in a state of chaos, England has closed its borders to outsiders. Those immigrants who sneak in to England are hunted down and sent to refugee camps. At train stations and other public platforms, you see cages and cages of people pleading in many foreign languages to the guards who stand there armed to the teeth and accompanied by ferocious dogs. The Fishes fight on behalf of these refugees, and their leader is a woman named Julian (Julianne Moore of Boogie Nights and The Forgotten), who also happens to be Theo’s ex. Whether they were married or just lovers is never really established. You do learn, finally, the tragedy that has plagued Theo for the last 20 years. Theo and Julian had a baby boy named Dylan, but he died during a flu pandemic in the early 2000’s.
Julian asks Theo to approach his cousin who works for the government and get transit papers so that Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a refugee, can travel through England. Theo agrees. He manages to obtain joint transit papers, making necessary for him to accompany Kee to wherever she’s going. When Theo, Kee, Julian and two other Fishes drive towards the coast, they are attacked by people hiding in bushes along the side of the road. They get away by driving the car in reverse, but not before two men on a motorcycle drive alongside the car and fire shots in through the window. One of the bullets hits Julian. They would’ve shot Theo as well, had he not opened the car door and knocked the two men off of their motorcycle. Julian slowly bleeds to death. This is the first time you see Theo react to anything. As they cover Julian up in a field, he walks to a tree and is about to light a cigarette when he just suddenly drops to his knees and cries.
Once Julian is dead, the Fishes decide to re-evaluate their plan. They drive to a safe house and re-elect a new leader. While this is going on, Kee asks Theo to follow her to the barn. There she disrobes and shows him why it is so important that she travel safely through England… she is pregnant. She needs to travel to the coast to meet a boat where people from the “Human Project” will take care of her.
The “Human Project” is a group of scientists working out of secret locations that are trying discover a cure for infertility. The idea of the “Human Project” is treated almost as a myth, something that may or may not exist… it all depends on whether or not you have faith. Theo never believed the “Human Project” existed, but now that he sees a glimmer of hope within Kee, he has to believe they exist. Julian told Kee that her baby would be the only way the chaos in the world could end peacefully. She could help the “Human Project” discover the cure for infertility and end man’s fear of extinction.
The Fishes ask Kee if she is okay with delivering her baby in their safe house, and then later making the birth public. Making the birth public would be significant, one: because it would give people hope for the future, and two: because the first baby in 18 years will be born to a refugee, thereby helping the Fishes’ cause. Kee says she will only do what Theo tells her to. Theo agrees that she should stay at the safe house and get the medical care that she needs.
Later that night, when everyone is asleep, Theo hears yelling and screaming outside. He sneaks down the stairs to see what’s going on… and he recognizes the two men who shot Julian. One is near death from falling off the motorcycle and is screaming for medical help. It seems the Fishes didn’t agree with Julian’s plan to take Kee to the boat and decided to have her killed. All along, they had wanted Kee to give birth in England and make it public to further their cause. They never wanted a peaceful solution… they wanted an uprising. Theo, Kee and her caretaker, Miriam, escape the safe house. Now they must find a way to get to the “Human Project” on their own.
In preparation for writing this review, I had to go back to the beginning of the movie for what some would consider important details: What cataclysmic event caused the world to be so violent? What caused the infertility of women? Why has England survived? But the truth of the matter is that the main point of the movie is getting Kee and her baby to safety. The hope for the future, the desire to believe that the Human Project really exists is what drives the main characters in this movie. Everything else is just background. In this period of political turmoil, people tend to shove their political agendas in your face, which is fine because film is a medium of free speech. But this movie was refreshing in that it didn’t do that. If you pay close attention to the posters and graffiti on the walls, you will see social commentary, you will see political statements. Immigration, racism and government conspiracies are addressed, but it is not the subject of the movie. It provides the context. It uses this dystopian future to heighten what’s good about mankind. Only against the backdrop of infertility and extinction do you see the importance of life. Only against a future without hope do you see the importance of faith… and only in a world of chaos can the sound of a baby crying stop a war.
I wouldn’t really say I “enjoyed” the movie. It’s really hard to enjoy so much death and violence. Theo and Kee end up having to depend on the help of strangers to get to the boat, and many of those people end up dead. Good people are not rewarded in this film. You don’t get to see their sacrifices pay off, and it’s very disheartening. The movie did, however, have the necessary elements that I look for in a good film: good acting, characters that you become invested in and the suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat despite the uneasy feelings you develop while watching. I am definitely considering picking up the novel by P.D. James to see how in depth the story was developed.
A film that makes me want to read something other than magazines… it’s got to be good, right?