Children of Men, based on novel by P.D. James

Children of Men, based on novel by P.D. James

For this cinephile, it is interesting to hear Romanian spoken during what seemed like a quarter of the film.

                Trying a feeble joke:

                This is the only attractive aspect of this gloomy fare

                And Now for Something Completely Different:

                Children of Men has a tremendous cast:

Clive Owen is formidable as always, Julianne Moore is the ultimate, exquisite, stupendous actress, even if in a small part, Michael Caine is a pleasure to watch, in the only role that I know with him adorned by long hair, Chiwetel Ejiofor is a terrifying fighter and the rest of the cast has a splendid performance.

Although very grim, the subject of the film is credible, since the future of humankind is in doubt, for various reasons.

                The path taken here is unusual.

                There have been scenarios with catastrophes that involve an Ice Age, others with aliens invading…

Dr. Strangelove and How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is an example of a chef d’oeuvre with this theme.

                Apocalypse Now is the topic of Children of Men

                In 2027 there are no more Children of Men.

In addition, this is just part of a calamity of planet proportions.

There is violence, rioting and revolution.

Immigrants are unwanted, which sounds like a familiar subject, worthy of a “big, beautiful trumpish wall”.

The infertility of women is also a problem in the world today, albeit in places and not worldwide.

This movie enthusiast was actually thinking at moments:

It is preposterous. We need fewer births, for the world has too many people already…look at what we did to the planet…

It sounds counterintuitive, maybe it even seems an oxymoron, but this cataclysm can happen, considering the way we treat the earth.

Alfonso Cuaron is not this movie addict’s choice of a director.

He has directed Great Expectations and that is another motion picture that, albeit in a different register, did not satisfy.

However, most of the blame for the bad feeling connected with Children of Men has to do with the horrific message.

Things Fall Apart!

And there is no reason for optimism.

Even when a pregnant woman enters the stage, it does not look like there is a chance for humanity.

First, there is fighting everywhere you turn and massive devastation- one thinks about sources of food.

What are these people eating? How do they survive?

There is also the familiar question, when bullets are flying everywhere in a movie, about the survival of the protagonists…

How come everyone is killed and these characters are just running through fire, explosions and everything else?

                Well, Julian is killed early on…

To finish with what this note has started.

Perhaps our very own best actress is in the film, playing an outré, helpful gypsy called Marichka on IMDB, but more likely Maricica…

“Si vorbeste romaneste, singurul aspect mai placut aici…”