Children of Men

Children of Men

2006

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

Wow, this was a much more emotionally involving movie than I expected. I really should have seen this when the film first came out, but I am still glad that I was able to view it. I remember some fellow students in my classes praising this film, and they were correct!

The question is what should I focus on writing about. There are so many aspects of this film that could be discussed. One thing to think about is how this movie would have been crafted in a Post-Obama election. Although the film takes place in England, there are definitely Bush era policies that have been taken to extremes. Illegal immigrants are treated like animals and unceasingly hunted down and captured and sent to live in concentration camp-like prisons. There is a constant distrust of the government and even of those who are fighting against the tyranny of the government.

One aspect of the film that particularly stands out is the government surveillance of its citizens. In the film, surveillance cameras have gotten so advance that it is possible to completely track a person's movements. The government also issues propaganda requesting the citizens to turn in any illegal immigrants even if it might be a friend or relative. The are huge video billboards in the film that have an image of eyes that changes to text that says, "Are you watching?" Not only does the government watch its citizens, it relies on the citizens themselves.

Children of Men presents a very disturbing vision of the near future. One of the great things about genre films (this is definitely of the science fiction genre) is that they can present views in such a way that can illustrate issues more clearly than a film such as a drama could.

Rustin Allison