Children of Men

Based on a novel by P.D James, the sci-fi premise of Children of Men is as devastatingly effective as it is startlingly simple: woman can no longer have children. For whatever reason -and thankfully the movie doesn't waste time trying to explain why- no children have been born anywhere in the world for the past eighteen years. It sets up the bleakest of situations, one bereft of any hope and with a seemingly inescapable conclusion. At last, a fresh and original imagining of that genre staple "the end of the world".

Political activist turned government bureaucrat Theo (Clive Owen) is our world weary guide through this hopeless landscape. Confronted by his one time love and still very much active activist Julian (Julianne Moore), he is asked to help transport a young woman to safety. It isn't long before Theo discovers the importance of the young woman comes from her miraculously pregnant state.

Despite the sci-fi tag, this is a very contemporary vision of societal chaos. Images from the current turmoil in the Middle East are transplanted to a totalitarian England, where they are skillfully blended with our own tabloid picture of social decline. England soldiers on, a paranoid police state ruled by fear and hatred. Immigrants are locked up in concentration camps, large swathes of the populace have resorted to thuggery and violence, and terrorist groups bomb and kill to reach their political aims. It's all the bits we don't dare face up to, logically extrapolated to some future point.

Shot in a gritty documentary style, the handheld camerawork and long takes place you right in the heart of this world. Most impressive is the final act shot amongst a decaying war torn immigrant concentration camp at Bexhill; evoking the imagery of embedded journalists in Iraq or Afghanistan. You feel like your there, ducking the shots and climbing the rubble yourself, instead of watching Clive Owen do it.

Surprisingly there are a great many funny moments in the movie; though admittedly these all occur in the first hour. Watching someone try and jump start a car has never been so amusing. Plus special mention must go to Micheal Caine as ageing, pot-smoking hippy Jasper; great performance.

Solid, thought provoking, and visually memorable movie making. Like the best science fiction, Children of Men gives us a world that is at once terrifying, yet uncomfortably recognisable. Why don't we do this kind of thing more often?