Jasper Said You're A Fascist Pig!

Sometime last fall a movie by the name of 'Children of Men' was released to theaters. I'd not heard of this particular movie, and had no inkling of what it was all about. I was told by a friend that it was a lousy movie; that it was just some story about a girl and a baby and to not waste my time seeing it. Well, being that I'd no knowledge of the movie in the first place I figured "ok, not a problem...'

That was until this past winter when I began hearing rumblings from various sources about how glorious this film was. As I understood it at the time, it dealt with a future world population who had found itself suddenly infertile and unable to reproduce; all the while watching every nation around the world except Britain crumble down from the effects of terrorism, hunger, lack of social welfare programs, and general societal apathy. (gee, is Bush running this new world...??)

I thought to myself it sounded like a nice plot and atmosphere for a theatric story. It sounded like a lot of the fears I hold today, albeit fully fleshed out and amplified significantly. I guess we all may think of the future as a harmonic place of Utopian gardens and societal calm, but then deep within our souls we know there's a very real possibility our civilization as we know it could cave in unto itself in a hurry. These fears stem from many current trends, among them rampant capitalism, materialism, U.S led imperialism, political cronyism, lack of foresight, environmental ignorance, and overall social and familial apathy.

The film deals with a lot of these fears and portents, but in a very real and convincing way. It's not a 'Jetsons' type film at all, it does a quite remarkable job of depicting a modern dilapidated future. I'll leave the movie plot and details for you to decide upon, but overall this movie was an astute look at just what our future may hold.

Em and I rated this flick highly, as we were greatly pleased with the scope and result of the film.
8.5 out of 10

In addition to the actual film, the DVD has some pretty cool extra features. One in particular, titled "The Possibility of Hope" is a mini-documentary featuring interviews with current day philosophers, political activists, writers, pundits, and scholars. The discussion is of how our world may be headed for the ill-fated future the movie portrays. This feature was quite compelling and we were enthralled throughout. It's strange, this little feature kind of rounded out the actual movie as if it were an intended extension to an already beautifully crafted story. It just lent that extra bit of credence and palpability to the aura presented.

If you're into social or current affairs, then this movie is for you. We highly recommend!
Check www.childrenofmen.net for even more info.

Enjoy.
Peace
AM Son