Children of Men

[Warning: This entry contains spoilers, but then again, this film has been out for like 4 years.]

I wonder how many more times I can watch Children of Men.

I'm not sure that crossed my mind when I bought the DVD. This is solid filmmaking, and I'm not just referring to the extended, continuous shot near the end (which is more or less why I bought the DVD), but talk about bleak — this film just leaves me more exhausted and beaten than hopeful.

I try not to spend too much time justifying why I bought this film or that film, but sometimes I feel the need to explain (if only to myself) why. For me, this is a film strewn with little clues and little written flourishes that make me happy to want to write.

I love the hook — the news report of the world's youngest person dying (which is never news) rather than the oldest (which is always news), and the exploding coffee shop (like the world will miss one coffee shop, even in a dystopian future). (Man, I love using parentheses tonight.)

Michael Caine plays Jasper, a hippie-fied version of Michael Caine, which basically makes him look more like a creative writing teacher than Bruce Wayne's butler. Clive Owen plays Theo, a rather selfish, apathetic character who through the course of the story learns selflessness, making him rather like Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

Theo goes to visit an acquaintance who can get him letters of transit (see what I mean?) for Kee, a stranger to him. Theo's acquaintance lives in a lavish "Arc of the Arts" — with servants — atop Battersea Power Station in South London, which must be living high on the hog in 2027. Indeed, you can clearly see a giant, floating pig outside the window. The year 2027 will be the 50th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's Animals album, Roger Waters' screed against the horrors of capitalism and, one could probably assume, the downfall of man.

The first time I watched this film, I caught stuff like that and felt all smart and shit. Watching again, I'm realizing how much I've forgotten. I may be smart, but I can't remember anything. Maybe that's the reason why I buy so damned many DVDs. I need my own copy because my brain can't store all of this.

This film is hell at metaphors. Kee reveals she is pregnant to Theo while standing in a barn. Theo's reaction: "Jesus Christ." That's a bit on the nose for a Biblical parallel, but effective nonetheless. Kee cracks a joke later, telling Theo she's a virgin, but then admits the joke and that she has no idea who the father is because she's been with several men. Later, the first man to see the baby (besides Theo) says the same thing: "Jesus Christ." The baby is a girl. To get to the safety of the boat, they must walk through a parade of Muslims chanting the takbir: "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the greatest). They emerge from a tunnel (birth metaphor) and escape to sea. Theo's last word? "Jesus."

As Theo dies, Kee names her child Dylan, after the child Theo lost. "It's a girl's name too." Dylan Thomas: Do not go gentle into that good night. Bob Dylan: May you stay forever young. Pick a Dylan.

I'm not exactly cranking out revelatory information here. Much of this stuff can be found on either IMDB or Wikipedia. Other people caught this stuff too. I'm not the only one who noticed.

What's surprising is that I normally don't catch stuff like this on the first viewing. Oh, sure, occasionally something like The Truman Show will hit me just right and I'll catch all the silly metaphors, but then I'll find out later that everyone and his/her dog caught the metaphors because they were all too obvious. Children of Men is a bit more dense, so I guess maybe I can feel more smarterer. Not really.

People love Children of Men for technical reasons. That's great and all, but I just love the writing even though the film makes me feel like I've lost a fight. For me, the writing is reason enough to keep Children of Men on a shelf, regardless of how many times I might watch this again.