Children of Men (2006)

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have become somehow infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.

Director:

Alfonso Cuarón

Writers:

Alfonso Cuarón (screenplay), Timothy J. Sexton (screenplay)

Stars:

Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 49 wins & 83 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi	...	Baby Diego (as Juan Yacuzzi)
Mishal Husain	...	Newsreader
Rob Curling	...	Newsreader
Jon Chevalier	...	Café Customer
Rita Davies	...	Café Customer
Kim Fenton	...	Café Customer
Chris Gilbert	...	Café Customer
Phoebe Hawthorne	...	Café Customer
Rebecca Howard	...	Café Customer
Atalanta White	...	Café Customer (as Atlanta White)
Laurence Woodbridge	...	Café Customer
Clive Owen	...	Theo Faron
Maria McErlane	...	Shirley
Michael Haughey	...	Mr. Griffiths
Phaldut Sharma	...	Ian (as Paul Sharma)

Storyline

London, 2027. In this dystopian world, humans have been incapable of reproducing for eighteen years for an unknown reason, meaning the imminent extinction of the species. Britain is the one remaining civilized society on the planet, which has resulted in people wanting to immigrate there. As such, it has become a police state in order to handle the immigrants, who are placed into refugee camps. Lowly government bureaucrat Theo Faron, once an activist, is approached by the Fishes, deemed a terrorist group, led by his ex-wife Julian Taylor, who he has not seen in close to twenty years, their marriage which disintegrated following the death of their infant son Dylan during the 2008 flu pandemic. Although the Fishes did use terrorist means in their on-going revolution against the state in the fight for immigrant rights, Julian vows that they now garner support solely by speaking to the people. What she wants is for Theo to use his connections to get transit papers for a young immigrant ...

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Plot Keywords:

long take | england | fertility | neo noir | allegory | 

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Taglines:

No children. No future. No hope.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language, some drug use and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

At Battersea Power Station, Theo enters a room with Picasso's 'Guernica' in the background. The same painting is featured in the 1983 cult science-fiction film '2019: After the Fall of New York', which is also about protecting the last fertile woman on Earth. Possibly, this is a nod from the filmmakers to acknowledge the similarities in theme between the movies.

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Goofs

When Theo first goes to visit Jasper, he gets off the train at the Alresford station. Alresford is northeast of London, near the city of Colchester in the county of Essex. All of the other locations which Theo later visits are to the southeast of London (Canterbury, Rye, and Bexhill) in the counties of Kent and East Sussex. It doesn't make sense that Theo, Kee, and Miriam would leave the Fishes' safe house and go past London to get to Alresford and then come back down to Rye before heading to Bexhill.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Newsreader: Day 1,000 of the Siege of Seattle.
Newsreader: The Muslim community demands an end to the Army's occupation of mosques.
Newsreader: The Homeland Security bill is ratified. After eight years, British borders will remain closed. The deportation of illegal immigrants will continue. Good morning. Our lead story.

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Crazy Credits

At the very end, one can read "Shanti, Shanti, Shanti" with children shouting and laughing on the soundtrack, which can be heard repeatedly throughout the end credits. This is the last line of T.S. Eliot's 1922 poem "The Wasteland." "Shanti" means "peace" in Sanskrit.

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Connections

Featured in James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction: Dark Futures (2018)

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Soundtracks

Money Honey
Written by Kevin Martin and Annette Henry
Performed by Pressure featuring Warrior Queen
Published by Chrysalis Music/Copyright Control (c) 2006
Used by permission. All rights reserved
Master courtesy of Hyperdub Records

User Reviews

a must see= brilliant and fresh

this film is one of the best things i have seen this year. It's an improbable cross between "Brazil" "a clockwork orange" and the video game HALF-LIFE2 (from which it borrows it's final sequences and use of on shot action-sequences) it manages to be both entertaining in the Hollywood way (with incredible action sequences and a very clever way of using digital effects) yet very sad and different with a very very dark and realistic overtone. No comic relief, no cartoon character bravery, only human behavior in it's best and most horrible way. This realistic overtone makes the main characters very engaging and moving. CLive owen (whose i have always disliked) is excellent as the man drowned into an adventure too big for him (sorry for my bad English)

It's the same kind of film than V for vendetta (both taking place in a futuristic fascist British society) different from the usual mainstrean studio teenager pleaser crap

GO see it! help intelligent cinema

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site UIP [Germany]

Country:

USA UK Japan

Language:

English German Italian Romanian Spanish Arabic Georgian Russian Serbian

Release Date:

5 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Children of Men

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Box Office

Budget:

$76,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$501,003, 31 December 2006

Gross USA:

$35,552,383

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$70,595,464

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Strike Entertainment, Hit & Run Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1