Children of men - acceptable science-fiction

"In 20 years, women are infertile. No children. No future. No hope. But all that can change in a heartbeat"

Can we imagine a world without any children ? In fact, "Veenapponavan" may stop writing poems, if there are no children in the world. Science fiction doesn't always mean to chase some atomic or nuclear bomb. The knot of the story should be compelling or attracting to get into the film, first. In olden days, you can see the poster and tell a story of an action film in Tamil or Telugu. But seeing the above quote of the fim, once can't conclude anything and keeps the interest about this film, live.

I'm scared of Sci-fi movies usually, as the story can traverse in any direction. Remember, in old Jaishankar films, RSManohar acts as a villain and with the help of a rubber mask, he'll become any character in the story [ அட‌ப் ப‌த‌ர்ங்க‌ளா..! ]. Similarly, a science-fiction can show anything and put the blame on science. But this movie attracted me because the director said the technology would hit a ceiling along with an increased level of pollution [ wall-E ! ], pandemic diseases and increased problems. As days pass by, the cities we live definitely stink more than we expect it to be better. [ Bangalore was greener ! ]. That' a nice way of depicting the future as the science fiction usually takes the brighter part alone [ showing expressways and 1 seated cars ].

The story handles a sensitive issue - child ! That's the most mysterious part in life, where mostly we don't know how to react. A fine moment in life where emotions take over the science - we can't ignore the child birth just as a scientific happening. What happens when the human race stops and take a break ?! Watch Children of men.

Plot

The knot is in the year 2027, women can't give birth to. The story starts with the youngest kid alive, is shot dead, collapsing the hope of human race. The youngest inhabitant of the planet has just died at the age of 18, and all hope for humanity has been lost. Theo is a common man who lives alone after getting his divorce and loosing his daughter to flu pandemic. He reluctantly gets in to a mission of saving and transferring a refugee who is the real challenge for this issue of mankind. The refugee has to be handed over to the care of a secret organization known as The Human Project.

The story is loosely based on the novel with same name. It's written by P.D. James's gripping 1992 novel.


View

First about the hero Clive Owen.. acted in Derailed, Inside man; he has played the common man role, swimmingly. I like him for his looks and familiarity. He doesn't possess any super natural powers , martial arts etc., He is a divorcee and has the intention to save a refugee girl from a problem. He takes the responsibility and moves forward without knowing what the next step is. The more relevant thing is that he had a flashback of his daughter out of some flu pandemic [ Swine flu is also pandemic - not endemic or epidemic ].

The truth is the future has more pollution, health hazards, wars and of course, technology ! the director has studied psychology and cinema before making films. He has boldly taken a story which most of the directors wouldn't try to. His briliance starts in the first scene, itself. The opening sequence is as shocking as 'Die hard 2' - Manhattan sequence.

This is neither a fiction nor a thriller. It's a combination of fiction, future, mankind told in a thriller fashion [ like the book title told by Vivek.. cosmic energy coupled with atomic energy in the evolution of mankind programmed by java ]. The realistic fiction shows a grim and gloomy futuristic world with unknown attacks. In a way, the happening resemble the world war periods and the camps.

I need a special mention about the photography - I need this because I was wondering for few shots inside a car during a chasing. The camera rotated in 360 degrees showing the incident happening behind, inside and through the front side of the car. The DVD got footage of explaining how they achieved this. Marvelous piece of technical work. Also, this film engages lengthy shot sequences taken in one take [ like the opening scene in Anjaathey ]. Also the sound effects used in the movie is fantastic.

I haven't come across a thriller which deals with this kind of peculiar requirement. I stopped in between to take a break as if I was watching some kind of horror movie - U'll definitely feel the same when Theo and Kee travels in a bus to cross the border. I paused the movie out of anxiety.

Every new scene leasds to a twisted problem which we can't even imagine about. I couldn't resist remembering "Naan Kadavull" by director Bala. I saw "Children of men" as an antidote for "Kadavull". When I finished the movie, I thought of recommending this film and 'Colour of paradise' to director Bala. The literature and art forms always try show the hope and faith. This is one of the fine movies which shows the same.

Conclusion

One of the nice films, which has fiction and faith. It's remebered for its brilliant direction adn techniques. I add Clive Owen's performance also as a factor to watch this movie.

:)
-Toto.