Starring:
Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Charlie Hunnam,
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine Director:
Alfonso Cuarón
Opening Date:
25 September 2006
Based on the book of the same name by British crime writer P.D. James
about a future in which male sperm count had unexplainably dropped to
practically zero across the planet and the human race is suddenly unable
to procreate.
Not exactly an idea new to written sci-fi (Brian Aldiss
explored the idea in a book titled Greybeard back in the 'Sixties),
but when it comes to celluloid SF
—
which always lags behind its written
counterpart when it comes to complex ideas
—
it is practically "high
concept".
By all accounts the Aldiss book is the better one, but
the James one gets filmed because, well, James is a mainstream writer and
thus accorded the sort of stature that "mere" sci-fi writers are not;
which just shows how low SF is still held by the cultural mainstream.
Anyway, the movie should still be intriguing since it
is directed by the bright young Alfonso Cuarón of
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
and Y tu mamá también fame
—
so this just might be the hard SF
movie of the year along with The Fountain
. . .
The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is
facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set in and around a dystopian
London fractious with violence and warring nationalistic sects, Children
of Men follows the unexpected discovery of a lone pregnant woman and the
desperate journey to deliver her to safety and restore faith for a future
beyond those presently on Earth.
This film started production in early
2002, but due to various complications it was put on hold and director
Alfonso Cuarón moved on to another project.
The
Children of Men
(2006) 
