Children of Men is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel The Children of Men, was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making additional, uncredited contributions. The film is set in 2027, when two decades of human infertility have left human civilisation on the brink of collapse. Asylum seekers seek sanctuary in the United Kingdom, where they are subjected to detention, deportation and execution by the government. Owen plays civil servant Theo Faron, who tries to help refugee Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) escape the chaos. Children of Men also stars Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris, Charlie Hunnam, and Sir Michael Caine.
The film was released by Universal Pictures on 22 September 2006, in the UK and on 25 December in the US. Despite a limited marketing campaign during awards season by the film's distributor, Children of Men received critical acclaim and was recognized for its achievements in screenwriting, cinematography, art direction, and innovative single-shot action sequences. While it underperformed at the box office, it was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing. It was also nominated for three BAFTA Awards, winning Best Cinematography and Best Production Design, and for three Saturn Awards, winning Best Science Fiction Film.
The film has received enduring acclaim and has been frequently cited as one of the best dystopian films and often lauded as one of the greatest films of the 2000s, and of the 21st century. It was voted 13th in a BBC critics' poll on the best films released between 2000 and 2016 by film critics from around the world.
Plot
In 2027, total human infertility has led to wars and global depression, pushing civilization to the brink of collapse as humanity faces extinction. The UK has transformed into a totalitarian police state in which asylum seekers are arrested and put in camps. Daily life is full of bombings, rationing, decay and propaganda. The populace mourns as they hear the news that the youngest person alive in the world is killed at age eighteen.
Theo Faron, a former activist turned cynical, depressed bureaucrat, is kidnapped by the Fishes, a militant refugee-rights group led by Theo's estranged wife, Julian Taylor. The pair separated after their son's death in 2008. Julian offers Theo money to acquire transit papers from his cousin, the Minister of Arts, for a young refugee woman named Kee. Theo visits his cousin inside an elite mini-city within London where the powerful enjoy all the pleasures of the past. Theo obtains joint transit papers from his cousin, then tells Julian that he is willing to escort Kee himself in exchange for more money. Luke, a Fishes member, drives Theo, Kee, Julian, and Miriam towards Canterbury, but they are ambushed and Julian is killed. After the rest escape, Luke kills two police officers that stop them.
At a farm safe house, Kee reveals to Theo that she is pregnant, making her the only known pregnant woman in the world. Julian intended to take her to the Human Project, a secret scientific research group in the Azores dedicated to curing humanity's infertility. That night, Theo eavesdrops and learns that Luke and other Fishes orchestrated Julian's death, while also intending to kill Theo and use Kee's baby as their political tool. Theo orchestrates an escape for himself, Kee, and Miriam, a midwife, to the secluded hideaway of Jasper Palmer, a bohemian, old friend of Theo.
The group plans to reach the Human Project ship, the Tomorrow, that Julian had scheduled to arrive offshore at Bexhill, a notorious refugee detention centre. Jasper arranges for Syd, an immigration officer to whom Jasper sells cannabis, to smuggle them into Bexhill as refugees, from where they can take a rowboat and rendezvous with the ship. The next day, the Fishes arrive at Jasper's hidden entrance, forcing the group to flee. Jasper stays behind to stall them and is murdered by Luke. At an abandoned school, Syd meets Theo, Kee, and Miriam, and helps them board a bus to the camp where Kee's water breaks; Miriam feigns mental illness as a distraction and is dragged off the bus.
In Bexhill, their contact Marichka, a Romani woman, provides Theo and Kee a room, where Theo helps Kee give birth. The next day, Syd arrives to tell them that war has broken out between the British Armed Forces and the refugees, and that the Fishes have infiltrated the camp. He reveals that Theo and Kee have a bounty on their heads and attempts to capture them. Marichka and Theo fight off Syd, and the group takes shelter with a kindly, elderly Russian couple.
As they're heading for the rowboat, the Fishes capture Kee and the baby. Luke initially tells Patric and others to spare the group, but once Kee and the baby are out of earshot, Luke tells Patric to kill the Russian couple and Theo. Patric shoots one of the two refugees, but is interrupted by an attack by British troops.
Theo flees and tracks Kee to an apartment building under heavy fire. Theo confronts Luke, who tells Theo "We need him," mistaking the baby for a boy; Theo corrects Luke, who says "I had a sister" before pleading for the child again and subsequently being killed in an explosion.
Awed by the sight of an actual baby, the British soldiers and Fishes momentarily stop fighting to allow Theo, Kee and the baby to leave the battle before the violence immediately resumes. Marichka leads them to the rowboat but stays behind.
As British fighter jets bomb Bexhill, Theo and Kee row to the buoy rendezvous point. Theo reveals he had been shot, and teaches Kee how to burp her baby. Kee tells him she will name the baby girl Dylan, after Theo's and Julian's lost son. Theo smiles weakly, then loses consciousness as the Tomorrow approaches. As the screen cuts to black, children's laughter is heard.
Cast
Clive Owen as Thelonius "Theo" Faron, a former activist embittered by the death of his son. Theo is the "archetypal everyman" who reluctantly becomes a saviour. Cast in April 2005, Owen spent several weeks collaborating with Cuarón and Sexton on his role. Impressed by Owen's creative insights, Cuarón and Sexton brought him on board as a writer. "Clive was a big help", Cuarón told Variety. "I would send a group of scenes to him, and then I would hear his feedback and instincts." Clare-Hope Ashitey as Kee, a refugee and former prostitute who is the world's first pregnant woman in eighteen years. She did not appear in the book, and was written into the film based on Cuarón's interest in the recent single-origin hypothesis of human origins and the status of dispossessed people: "The fact that this child will be the child of an African woman has to do with the fact that humanity started in Africa. We're putting the future of humanity in the hands of the dispossessed and creating a new humanity to spring out of that." Julianne Moore as Julian Taylor, the leader of the refugee liberation group known as the "Fishes". For Julian, Cuarón wanted an actress who had the "credibility of leadership, intelligence, [and] independence". Moore was cast in June 2005, initially to play the first woman to become pregnant in 20 years. "She is just so much fun to work with", Cuarón told Cinematical. "She is just pulling the rug out from under your feet all the time. You don't know where to stand, because she is going to make fun of you." Michael Caine as Jasper Palmer, Theo's friend and a former political cartoonist. Caine based Jasper on his experiences with his friend John Lennonthe first time he had portrayed a character who would fart or smoke cannabis. Cuarón explains, "Once he had the clothes and so on and stepped in front of the mirror to look at himself, his body language started changing. Michael loved it. He believed he was this guy". Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune notices an apparent homage to Schwartz in Orson Welles' film noir Touch of Evil (1958). Jasper calls Theo "amigo"—just as Schwartz referred to Ramon Miguel Vargas. Jasper's cartoons, seen in his house, were provided by Steve Bell. Pam Ferris as Miriam, a midwife taking care of Kee. Chiwetel Ejiofor as Luke, the second-in-command of the "Fishes". Charlie Hunnam as Patric, a "Fishes" soldier. Peter Mullan as Syd, an immigration cop. Oana Pellea as Marichka, a Romani woman who helps Theo and Kee in Bexhill detention centre. Danny Huston as Nigel, Theo's cousin and a high-ranking government official. Nigel runs a Ministry of Arts program "Ark of the Arts", which "rescues" works of art such as Michelangelo's David, Pablo Picasso's Guernica, and Banksy's Kissing Coppers. Paul Sharma as Ian, a "Fishes" leader. Jacek Koman as Tomasz, a "Fishes" soldier. Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi as 'Baby' Diego, the world's youngest surviving human, born shortly before the global infertility incident. Ed Westwick as Alex, Nigel's son
Production
The option for the book was acquired by Beacon Pictures in 1997. The adaptation of the P. D. James novel was originally written by Paul Chart, and later rewritten by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. The studio brought director Alfonso Cuarón on board in 2001. Cuarón and screenwriter Timothy J. Sexton began rewriting the script after the director completed Y tu mamá también. Afraid he would "start second guessing things", Cuarón chose not to read P. D. James' novel, opting to have Sexton read the book while Cuarón himself read an abridged version. Cuarón did not immediately begin production, instead directing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. During this period, David Arata rewrote the screenplay and delivered the draft which secured Clive Owen and sent the film into pre-production. The director's work experience in the United Kingdom exposed him to the "social dynamics of the British psyche", giving him insight into the depiction of "British reality". Cuarón used the film The Battle of Algiers as a model for social reconstruction in preparation for production, presenting the film to Clive Owen as an example of his vision for Children of Men. In order to create a philosophical and social framework for the film, the director read literature by Slavoj Žižek, as well as similar works. The 1927 film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans was also influential.
Location A Clockwork Orange was one of the inspirations for the futuristic, yet battered patina of 2027 London. Children of Men was the second film Cuarón made in London, with the director portraying the city using single, wide shots. While Cuarón was preparing the film, the London bombings occurred, but the director did not consider moving the production. "It would have been impossible to shoot anywhere but London, because of the very obvious way the locations were incorporated into the film", Cuarón told Variety. "For example, the shot of Fleet Street looking towards St. Paul's would have been impossible to shoot anywhere else." Due to these circumstances, the opening terrorist attack scene on Fleet Street was shot a month and a half after the London bombing.