Cinema - Children of Men

Imagine if all the women in the world mysteriously and suddenly stopped getting pregnant. Then imagine what the world would be like in 20 years time, with no children in it whatsoever - a world in which ageing mankind is heading for extinction, where the government has created a police state, and where an underground movement is desperate to get things back on track. PD James imagined such a world in her excellent thriller Children of Men, and now the Mexican film-maker Alfonso Cuaron - of Y Tu Mama Tambien and Prisoner of Azkaban fame - has turned it into a movie.

There is a twist to the plot: a young black London woman suddenly becomes pregnant. The first time this has happened in over two decades. A jaded bureaucrat (Clive Owen) is asked by an ex lover, who has joined the rebel movement, to get the woman out of Britain, where her life is in danger, and to safety abroad. Not only will he be saving the woman. There is every chance he will be saving the human race, too. That’s a pretty strong plot-line. So does the director do it justice? Critics and audiences vehemently disagree. The cinematography is brilliant (full of long lingering takes and referential imagery) but the script never dwells too long on characterisation or the deeper issues at stake. The result is that art-house aficionados are generally left itching to get out while action-movie types rave about the best film they’ve seen in years. DL