I finally got around to seeing The Children of Men this weekend and I enjoyed it moreso than any movie I’ve seen in a while.
The movie appeals to me not just because of the gripping cinematography and storyline, but also because I get the feeling it is laden with symbols that may not be appreciable from just one viewing. I’ve seen the film only once and was only able to pick up on what I think were two note-worthy elements. I’m interested to see if other people picked up on any other subtextual bits.
The irony that Britain is the last refuge for the world. History’s first major imperialist world power–responsible for invading and colonizing foreign lands and enrichening itself off the back of foreign peoples–sees itself, in the apocalyptic future, barely staving off invasion by foreigners. Am I reading too much into this? I don’t know, but it was something that came to me as I walked out of the theatre.
Kee’s race. Humanity came out of Africa. That Kee is a black woman, carrying the first and only member of the world’s youngest generation, is no coincidence, IMO.
Did anyone else catch any interesting innuendo? And what are people’s thoughts on the movie’s title? I don’t quite get it.
Britain being the last remaining power is also seen in the movie V for Vendetta.
Mostly, though, I’m just here to say that if you liked the movie, I highly recommend that you read the book it was adapted from: same title, written by P.D. James. James is known as a popular mystery writer, and this novel was a departure for her, but I liked it very much. I think the film adaptation is pretty good, too.
In the other thread, it’s mentioned that the title comes from a bible verse that berates “The Children of Men” for blaming God for their troubles when they should be thanking him for the wonderful world He has given them. This is perfect for the movie. People never really thought how special children were until there were none. The midwife who talks about how bad things became when the playgrounds went silent, the terrorist who says that he’d forgotten how beautiful babies were. These were the moments where people really showed how much they’d lost.
I did like that at the abandoned school, there was a statue of a dinosaur. A species that humans were soon to join in extinction.
I forgot to add: In fact the abandoned school itself was a rather powerful symbol. I imagined how it must have felt as that last class of students aged. First, the kindergarten teachers would be out of a job. Then the kids would graduate each successive grade as the last ever. There would probably be a wave of suicides amongst the newly unemployed teachers as their raison d’etre vanished.
I also thought it was interesting that the movie was set just as the last children were turning 18-19. Now there really were no children and the “adult” world would start to suffer as the resupply of able bodies to the work force was stopped. This occurred to me when they showed the Queen’s Dragoons riding past and I thought, “Jeez, the very last of those guys is already part of that unit. There’s no one to replace him after he dies.”
I took a dark laugh at how annoyed white supremicists would be that the hope for humans is a black baby.
I assumed that animals (especially pets) managed to flourish because people began adopting pets as pseudo-children. As to why Clive Owen seemed to attract them, I’m lost.
I noticed that almost every frame seemed to have a dog in it, but I’m still not sure why. Still, I’d hesitate to refer to the examples mentioned in the OP as symbolism.
Near as I can tell, the animals were drawn to Clive Owen because he’s pretty hot to them, too.
Sorry, actually, I got nothin’, except maybe that the filmmakers wanted to highlight his character’s instinctive gentleness.
Well, the guy Owen went to see was an art collector, and he (according to the movie) lived inside Battersea Power Station. What else was he going to have floating outside?
Although I’m not sure I’d call it intentional symbolism, the late scenes in the town that has been converted to a concentration camp seem pretty clearly based on the Warsaw ghetto and its eventual uprising, as witnessed by Adrian Brody’s character in The Pianist. In fact, a good part of the whole uprising sequence seems to be a pastiche of elements from that film, right down to an echo of Brody’s POV shot from an upper floor of a tank firing into the building he’s in.
Yes I figured that pets, dogs esepcially were substitute children. When pet food has ads on the TVs on the Buses, business must be good.
But I’m still wondering why they all just knew that Clive Owen was good. I guess in the way that Kee just seemed to instantly trust him. Since very few people in the film were trustworthy, well, I guess that makes sense.
I’m glad Mr. Owen has a hit in the US. I really like him. Sin City did well but his part was pretty small.
Dogs and cats are supposed to be good judges of character, right? On film anyway – whenever a dog or cat growls at someone it’s usually a good clue that he’s a Bad Guy.
There’s a scene in the abandoned school when Theo and the midwife lady are talking, and Kee is framed in the background by a teardrop-shaped hole in the window. I’m not sure it’s symbolism exactly, but it’s a nice bit of evocative imagery.
Is it significant that all the bad guys were literally guys, while all the women were good? With the exception of Jasper and Theo, every other male was either bad or a pawn of badness.
One of the most tense scenes (for me) was when the gypsy-like lady looked like she was about to steal the baby out of Kee’s arms when they were fleeing from Sid. But then we see her come back around and help Kee squeeze through the door. This scene was such a simple way of showing that hope (which is what the baby represented) keeps humans acting human. You’d think the baby, being the most valuable thing on the planet, would turn people into greedy, thieving animals, but what we saw was the opposite.
Well, the album being referenced is Animals, and the 3 major parts of the album evoke some pretty strong parallels in the movie: Sheep is a tale of fear leading to violent uprising, Dogs is about how paranoia and self-absorption can lead to the hardening of ones heart, and Pigs on the Wing arcs its way from isolated indifference to a large feeling of hope and community.
I think it’s not so much Britiain being the first major imperialist (there are lots of contenders – look at Phillip of Macedon, Persia, Athens’ Delian League, Assyria, and so forth, before you even get to Rome) as it is a case of using the strongly resonant Battle of Britain motif. “Britain as the last bastion in a rising tide of madness” adequately describes Europe after the fall of France in 1940. Americans were profoundly moved to see barely defensible Britain soldier on and refuse Hitler’s offer of peace. “Only Britain Soldiers On” is a propaganda line repeated in the movie.
Eh, I think that you’re saying the movie claims “People never really thought how special children were”? The movie may so claim. But in real life, you can’t go a day without hearing someone loudly proclaim how special children are and how much we should all do for them.
I’m not saying children aren’t special, but it’s flat untruth to say people don’t go on and on about their specialness and value. Even if we are being hypocritical about it. From Michelin commercials with babies riding on your tires, to politicians kissing babies during elections, to any thread on people loving their pets (which is inevitably hijacked by parents exclaiming “no one else knows the special love I feel for my biological offspring”), Western society is flooded with it.
I’ve seen someone make the case that Kee was the most valuable thing on the planet – a proven breeder, unlike the baby.
On a side note, did anyone else feel for just a second like the movie was making a sharp turn when
Kee claimed to be a virgin mother? It was in jest, but I certainly felt a lurch very like when I saw the Sixth Sense plot twist.
