'Children of Men', the new Alfonso Cuaron sci-fi flick

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Nabsico, if you too are posting random images, all is lost.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 5 April 2007 17:54 (seventeen years ago) link

Finally saw this yesterday. Thought it was great. I liked all the pets, too.

Really reminded me of Half Life 2, of all things, in terms of run-down/post-apoc european fascistic society where people can't have kids and rebels stage a violent uprising and video screens everywhere.

― kingfish, Monday, 9 April 2007 19:11 (seventeen years ago) link

kingfish OTM. i totally also thought of HL2.

― Will M., Monday, 9 April 2007 19:12 (seventeen years ago) link

Also, what also reminded me of HL2 was that both worlds had world- and plot-specific grafitti, which, in the game at least, really helped with the immersion. It gave me the feeling that this was an actual world w/ actual people trying to express a culture of trying to figure out wtf was going on.

― kingfish, Monday, 9 April 2007 19:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Lack of children, running gun battles in the street, overbearing police/combine, desolated countryside areas, refugees flooding to cramped places, MIT grad... oh wait, that was only HL2 ¬_¬

― james, Monday, 9 April 2007 19:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Nabsico, if you too are posting random images, all is lost.

no, nabisco is noise
it will all be fine

― rrrobyn, Monday, 9 April 2007 19:57 (seventeen years ago) link

I just saw this today, and loved it, despite having the book in the back of my mind. The one thing that disappointed me about the adaptation (and there were a fuckload of changes, most of the second half, most for the better) was the circumstances of his son's death.

Instead of dying naturally, the kid dies as a toddler when Theo inadvertedly reverses over him in the car, and he's been tormented by it ever since. That might not have worked in the film because they conflated the ex-wife with Julian and (I think) made up the Kee character and the whole immigrant subplot. Essentially the kid is born in the woods and the first half hour is pretty much the whole book.

I haven't read this whole thread, but what was the deal with the kid taking his pills at Theo's brothers table?

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 21:58 (seventeen years ago) link

It was Theo's cousin wasn't it? I figured the kid was just his son who was suffering from some kind of intense psychological malaise - being a member of the last generation on earth and all that.

― chap, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 23:14 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm reading the book right now and to be honest I don't see much similarity at all. I don't think the circumstances in the movie work if Theo's unintentionally killed the daughter though.

― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 23:24 (seventeen years ago) link

"I was just reading an interview with Cuaron (actually a full-page NYTMag advertisement for the DVD cleverly designed as an "interview") in which he gives the obvious rationale for packing in the background detail -- pretty clearly less "bash you over the head with bleakness" and more "replace all expository blahblahblah with background / scenic detail that gets the job done." There is rather a lot of that, though, granted. Which was his ad-copy sales pitch for the DVD: "We put in so much detail! You can watch it over and over and things will keep popping out!"

-- nabisco, Thursday, April 5, 2007 8:07 PM (1 week ago)"

blood diamonds to you if you can tell me where to find this (or a similar quote about the dvd)!

― That one guy that quit, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:50 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh come on it wasn't THAT good really was it? I liked it but the way a lot of ILX people slate some perfectly decent films, I'm surprised by the unanimity on this thread.

Just saw it (on a telly, not on the big screen admittedly) and it was alright. Some big plot holes - (if the population is going down, why be so volatile towards illegal immigrants? why go to project whatsit instead of staying with the fishes?). and the ending was dumpcakes. the lead character wasn't as good as people say, in fact he delivered his lines pretty rubbishly towards the beginning of the film.

i did like the bit in bexhill (the blood on the lens!) and the ambush on bikes (which is weird - i usually hate long action sequences). I don't know if I'd bother watching it again any time soon. Silent Hill was better.

― the next grozart, Monday, 23 April 2007 00:30 (seventeen years ago) link

As someone who probably falls on the slating side more often than not, I was happy to be in the outspoken majority on this one.

― Eric H., Monday, 23 April 2007 00:45 (seventeen years ago) link

i did like the bit in bexhill (the blood on the lens!)

That shot was so looong. And awesome.

― Drooone, Monday, 23 April 2007 00:47 (seventeen years ago) link

I think the reason they can treat illegal immigrants so badly is that England is basically the only place in the world that hasn't collapsed, so people will still be trying to go there no matter how badly they're treated. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question though.

I don't really understand why Kee doesn't stay with the fishes but I think they do address it--there's a lot of detail in the movie and it's hard to catch everything. One reason I can think of is that Julianne Moore told her to only trust Clive Owen, and the fishes were going to kill him.

― 31g, Monday, 23 April 2007 00:50 (seventeen years ago) link

Also, the comparison to Half-Life 2 upthread is totally otm, that was exactly what I thought of when the bexhill scene was over and those jets flew over the boat. That scene really does feel like a first person shooter at times--I guess it's partly due to the very long single take.

― 31g, Monday, 23 April 2007 00:55 (seventeen years ago) link

if the population is going down, why be so volatile towards illegal immigrants? why go to project whatsit instead of staying with the fishes?

I don't think either of these questions make sense. The UK is one of the last places on Earth to succumb to all-out anarchy, which is why everyone is going there and exactly why they're trying to keep everyone out; the government is afraid that the influx of immigrants will upset the fragile balance they have that's keeping their society together. The Fishes don't have any medical training whatsoevere as far as I can remember, plus they stated rather explicitly that they wanted to use the baby as a political rallying point several times before the ambush and death of the Julianne Moore character, so exactly why would Kee want to stay with them?

― HI DERE, Monday, 23 April 2007 01:46 (seventeen years ago) link

Plus they betrayed and killed one of two people in the world Kee seems to have trusted and liked.

This is one of those rare films that I actually find very difficult not to watch on a regular basis, as I feel semi-guilty for not spending my time watching other things. Though I'm always happy when a friend hasn't seen it yet, as that's a justifiable excuse for watching it again.

― Gukbe, Monday, 23 April 2007 02:04 (seventeen years ago) link

Finally saw this. Half-Life 2 comparisons seconded, and also Adam is totally OTM with "It's everything V for Vendetta promised and failed to deliver". Really good. Shame I didn't see it on a big screen, I might have jizzed myself like I did for Sunshine.

However everyone who says the midwife speech was unnecessary - when she said "I was in the John Radcliffe" I was all "DUDE THAT'S WHERE I WAS BORN!1!1!!!1!!!"

― ledge, Monday, 23 April 2007 10:03 (seventeen years ago) link

maybe i do need to watch this again. or maybe it's just not my thing. i'm really surprised by how many people liked this on ilx - maybe even more unanimous than spirited away? i preferred v for vendetta tbh.

― the next grozart, Monday, 23 April 2007 10:09 (seventeen years ago) link

I saw it on DVD, and though I think it would have been better on the big screen, I still found plenty to like. In the pantheon of atmospheric, dystopian sci-fi noir action films, it probably ranks somewhere below "Brazil" and "Blade Runner", but still better than most of that genre.

― o. nate, Monday, 23 April 2007 15:25 (seventeen years ago) link

julianne moore is hardly in it but her manage to make a lot out of it. can't believe the criticism upthread of owen's response to her death.

― That one guy that quit, Monday, 23 April 2007 16:35 (seventeen years ago) link

Wow, this film is overrated like crazy on here, especially considering how awfully clunky the script is. It's catnip for cynics I spose.

― DavidM, Monday, 23 April 2007 18:42 (seventeen years ago) link

It's catnip for cynics I spose.

I don't understand this. If anything, the movie has a sweetness at its heart.

Nothing else new to add, just another voice loudly in favour of this film. Oh, and I also thought of Half Life 2.

― Lostandfound, Monday, 23 April 2007 19:22 (seventeen years ago) link

'cynics' = anyone noticing the world is going to shit. Is DavidM Armond White?

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 23 April 2007 19:24 (seventeen years ago) link

I don't think the appeal here is to those who're cynical about the future. The only catnip I'd imagine would be toward people who are "into" news and politics enough to enjoy their near-future crisis scenarios built more on plausible/contemporary detail than imaginative/fantastical ones. (I.e., apart from the infertility, its near future is based almost entirely on ... well, policy matters, which you can spend half the movie thinking about, if you feel like it! Whereas others of the genre tend to be more dystopic, and more in a philosophical sense than a practical one, like where the issue is "weirdoid totalitarian state" rather than "state and culture fumble like they always do.")

Anyway it seems to me at least that there are loads of quality things in here even apart from its premise, and lots of what made me think of this as an enjoyable film had to do with plain non-premise film-making details like the long ambush shot or the low-tech stalled-car getaway or whatever.

― nabisco, Monday, 23 April 2007 19:58 (seventeen years ago) link

I'd like to know what it was about the script that made you feel it was horribly clunky.

― HI DERE, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:05 (seventeen years ago) link

xposts Also, cynicism /= pessimism, necessarily. If I had to, I'd characterise the overall mood as a vast cloud of pessimism hiding a very tiny nugget of almost sentimental optimism. There's nothing overtly cynical, is there? (I saw it twice when it came out, but haven't seen it on DVD yet, so maybe I'm forgetting something?)

― Lostandfound, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Did anybody else walk away from that movie all teary-eyed with hope and love for people?

Because I was all about hugs for about the next 24 hours.

― Fluffy Bear Hearts Rainbows, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:19 (seventeen years ago) link

if you go way upthread there are a few dissenters! me among them. a meek, apologetic dissenter, but one nonetheless.

― ryan, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:24 (seventeen years ago) link

But ryan, you kind of hate everything.

― HI DERE, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:27 (seventeen years ago) link

Did anybody else walk away from that movie all teary-eyed with hope and love for people?

Because I was all about hugs for about the next 24 hours.

I'm taking the risk that you're not being sarcastic, but yes to your question!

― Lostandfound, Monday, 23 April 2007 21:02 (seventeen years ago) link

HI DERE FAN clunkiness = camp = COM

― Kiwi, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:13 (seventeen years ago) link

wtf camp?

― That one guy that quit, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:17 (seventeen years ago) link

DOES NOT COMPUTE

― max, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:19 (seventeen years ago) link

refugee camp?

― kingfish, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:22 (seventeen years ago) link

ha wrong word? anyway I meant so awful its good kind of way, I assumed the clunkiness was intentional.

― Kiwi, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:33 (seventeen years ago) link

finally saw this last night. very arresting, superbly shot blah blah, i thoroughly 'enjoyed' it. at the end i felt a mixture of relief but also wanted more - glad it wasn't 'overlong' tho.

― blueski, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:36 (seventeen years ago) link

A lot of people were very affected by this film, but looking back I didn't really care about the main character or Kee very much at all. The main dude just seemed grim and determined, completely emotionless and Kee had little emotional quality either.

― the next grozart, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:38 (seventeen years ago) link

We just caught part of a movie on TV with Clive Owen playing King Arthur! And Keira Knightly as Guinevere. She's fine until she opens her mouth, and then the posh accent (or what sounds to my American ears as one, who knows, maybe it's totally KK's invention), totally blows the effect.

― Beth Parker, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:44 (seventeen years ago) link

Keira Knightly has a posh accent to British ears too.

― chap, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:47 (seventeen years ago) link

The main dude just seemed grim and determined, completely emotionless

apart from the bit where he's crouched by the tree breaking down over the sudden death of J Moore's character, and the quiet rage that nearly overwhelms him when Caine's character is shot...plus quite a few other scenes! he seemed cold and cynical initially because of what had happened to his son as well as the world in general.

― blueski, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:49 (seventeen years ago) link

Yes, but don't you think a British Queen would have a posh accent? Surely that is natural?

x-post

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:50 (seventeen years ago) link

i didn't give a shit about his son. i know i was supposed to, but i couldn't.

― the next grozart, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:51 (seventeen years ago) link

have you seen king arthur? that isn't the effect they are going for with her character at all, beth is right that her accent is inappropriate.

― the schef (adam schefter ha ha), Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:52 (seventeen years ago) link

it would have been awesome if she was speaking in totally authentic old celtic but nobody else was, but everyone could still understand her, like chewbacca

― gff, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:56 (seventeen years ago) link

I have seen the film. It made complete and total liberties with both Arthurian myth and British history so Guinivere's accent was the least of my concerns.

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:58 (seventeen years ago) link

"It made complete and total liberties with both Arthurian myth and British history"

what does this even mean?

the arthurian myth is... a myth. it's okay to take liberties with a myth because a) everyone else does b) myth takes total liberties with british history. and it's a film about the myth, so yes obviously it takes liberties with british history!

― That one guy that quit, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:24 (seventeen years ago) link

OK, in what universe, mythical or historical, did the Saxons invade England from the *NORTH*? Historically, they invaded from the South of England. In every single example of the Arthurian cycle, the Saxons invaded from the South.

In this film, they invade from the North.

That's what I mean by taking liberties with both myth and history. It's one thing to add another layer or interpretation on an existing folk tradition, but quite another to just completely make something up.

Just because something is mythical does not mean that there are not certain common threads which can be held to be crucial to the story.

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:31 (seventeen years ago) link

two months pass...

Good discussions above. I saw this in the theater back in January, and just rented it last weekend and watched it twice more. I really love this film, Cuaron is a fantastic director -- Y tu mama tambien was great too.

Would anyone recommend the Harry Potter movie Cuaron directed? I've neither read any of the books nor seen the other movies, but I was thinking about renting this one just for Cuaron's directing.

Also, here's one of the many, many fantastic reviews to be found on IMDB message boards, this one on Children of Men:

"Unimaginative rubbish. It's dull, and it's pointless. The soundtrack seems like it was made by Merzbow."

― Mark Clemente, Tuesday, 26 June 2007 14:02 (sixteen years ago) link

mmm fantastic

― blueski, Tuesday, 26 June 2007 14:10 (sixteen years ago) link

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