I just sawr the movie. Don't make sense. I been doing searches for the book, but could not find yet.

Wow.

I hate - I mean, have - to ask: why doesn't it make sense for you?

Duh.
Why the hell did folks stop having babies?
Where the hell did the baby come from? (Why was she able to have a baby?)
What the hell was the huge boat all about at the end?
Why did those military soldiers let them get away?

I still can't find the book anywhere.

Mutation of bovine abortivirus. Symptoms in the human mothers sound about right.

Duh.
Why the hell did folks stop having babies?
A Virus? Disease? God?
Where the hell did the baby come from? (Why was she able to have a baby?)
Who knows? The movie isnt about the science part. She probably didnt catch the same virus as the others or (in the story) God didnt punish her as a last hope for mankind.
What the hell was the huge boat all about at the end?
The boat was PICKING up Key (or whatever her name was) to go to the Human Project
Why did those military soldiers let them get away?
The first baby in 18+ years... they were amazed and wouldnt arrest the baby...

I still can't find the book anywhere.
http://www.amazon.com/Children-Men-P-D-James/dp/0307279901/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/105-4864838-3320437?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181920373&sr=8-3

I liked the movie over all, but I couldn't help thinking that the whole premise was pretty silly. Unless you want to propose that it was magic, there should have been some group of people somewhere in the world that would still have children. There would be places that any disease wouldn't reach, and there would be at least some people who would be immune to any given disease. The fact that no scientist in the world could figure out why it was happening was even more outlandish.

http://www.amazon.com/Children-Men-P-D-James/dp/0307279901/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/105-4864838-3320437?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181920373&sr=8-3
WTF? That is an Amazon book. Thanks, but that aint what I am talking about.

Its a book sold on Amazon......

Its a book sold on Amazon......
Yes it is. Who wants to actually pay for the book?





SPOILERS. DO NOT READ IF YOU PLAN TO LOOK AT
THIS MOVIE!
Theo lives in the 2020's.
No child has been born for about 18 years, and nobody knows why.
All the major cities of the world have crumbled.
For some reason, Britain is the only place that continues, but is facing turmoil.
Fugees are people trying to get into Britain.
Britain does not allow Fugees to enter. Any Fugee found is deported.
There is a refugee camp which is a giant city prison where Fugees live in complete anarchy.
A terrorist organization called Fish is fighting for the rights of fugees to live in Britain.
Their last bombing was at Liverpool. Since then, the government has been staging bombings to keep the people in fear.
There is a special legendary place called the Human Project where scientists live and work to try to figure out what is going on. It is a sanctuary community. Nobody really believes in it. The Tomorrow Boat is a legendary hospital boat that takes people to Human Project.

Theo has a good job working for the ministy of Energy.
One day, he goes to pick up some coffee, and finds out on the news that a celebrity got killed. It was the youngest person in the world.

He walks out of the coffee shop, and it explodes killing many people. He goes to work, and leaves early because he is shaken up by the bombing. He meets up with his old professor Jasper. Jasper is some junkie who takes him to a secret forest lair to smoke weed. Jasper lives with a catatonic woman in a wheel chair.

The junkie drops Theo off back to the city. Some Fish people kidnap Theo, and take him to their secret lair. It turns out, his former RI, Julian, is the leader of the Fish. Theo and Julian used to have a child together named, Dillan, who died.

Julian wants to pay Theo to get transport papers for Kiki the Haitian in order to get her to the Tomorrow Boat. Kiki is the only pregnant girl left on the planet, but nobody knows about her except for the Fish. Theo has no clue. Julian has contacts called mirrors who feed her information about the Tomorrow Boat and the Human Project. Julian wants Kiki to catch the Tomorrow Boat that will take her to the safe custody of the Human Project.

Theo refuses to help, and is sent home with info on how to contact the Fish incase he changes his mind. Theo hits it to his cousin's highrise for dinner. His cousin is a high ranking official. Theo tells his cousin a fake story. His cousin hooks him up with some transport papers. But it is a dual transport paper. Theo will have to escort Kiki personally.

Theo meets with Luke, a Fish official, at a bar. Luke gives Theo instructions to the meet Julian. Nobody knows that Luke is evil. He plans to kill Julian, and use the baby to gain political support for the cause to help the fugees.

Theo meets Julian, and they proceed to a tunnel where the car is hidden. Luke drives the car with Julian, Theo, Kiki, and Kiki's Nursemaid, Miriam the Midwife. They embark on their long journey to take Kiki and Theo to the Tomorrow Boat. Hours later, they are ambushed by a group pretending to be gang bandits. They are actually Fish members in disguise. The bandits kill Julian. Luke is secretly in on it. Luke drives off with Theo, Kiki, and Miriam while Julian is dying in the car. Luke kills 2 police officers to make their escape. Everybody in the car is now wanted by the police. Julian's body is left in the woods.

They arrive at a farm plantation where Kiki reveals to Theo that she is pregnant. Because Julian is gone, the plan to get Kiki to the Tomorrow Boat is thwarted. Kiki agrees to stay with the Fish because she does not know they are evil. Later that night, Theo overhears Luke and his cohorts plans to kill Theo, and take Kiki's baby. Theo, Kiki, and Miriam make a mad escape to Jasper the junkie's house.

At Jasper's house, they have dinner. The catatonic woman is there. Miriam happens to have the rout schedule for the Tomorrow Boat. How convenient. Supposedly, Julian was the only one with all of this information from the mirrors. The Tomorrow Boat stops at weather buoys in the ocean just off of the mainland. It will stop at Windsor tonight, and the Refugee Camp in 2 days. They very well cannot make it to Windsor, so Jasper leaves the dinner table, and goes off to talk to Sid. Sid is one of Jasper's weed customers. Sid agrees to take the crew into the Refugee Camp. Jasper comes back home the next day to tell everybody the great news. They will break into prison. "Wicked!" Meamwhile, Theo lost his shoes, so he ends up walking around in flipflops like a Filipino.

The next morning, everybody wakes up to the sound of alarm. As it so happens, the evil Fish have managed to locate the protagonists, and are currently breaching the perimeter of Jasper's secret lair. Jasper gives Theo his car to escape with Kiki and Miriam. Jasper stays behind to feed the Quietus pill to the catatonic woman. The Quietus pill is to kill you.

The Fish infiltrate Jasper's lair, and find the information about the Tomorrow Boat schedule to the refugee camp. The Fish kill Jasper, and are off towards the refugee camp to find Kiki and her unborn baby.

Theo and his team meet up with Sid who gets them access to the refugee camp. Sid likes to speak in the third person. Sid gives them instructions for their arrival into the refugee camp. They must find a statue of a soldier, and look for a woman named, Marikar, and her mangy dog.

Sid puts them on a transport bus to the refugee camp. On the way there, Kiki's water breaks, and she is going into spasms. The bus stops at some sort of inspection station. The police enter the bus with a puppy. It appears they take people out of the bus if they find some sort of paraphenelia on them. Then the culprits are executed. One of the officers spots Kiki tripping. In order to save Kiki, Miriam makes a scene. The police take Miriam off of the bus to have her executed. Theo shows the water under Kiki, and tells the police that she was just using the bathroom. The police let them go. For some reason, the police do not recognize all three of them who are well known Osama Bin Ladens. All 3 of them happen to be sitting right there, and the police did not notice them.

Theo and Kiki are taken into the refugee camp where they meet up with Marikar. She takes them to a place to stay for the night. Theo delivers Kiki's baby. Sid finally finds out on the news that there is a big reward for Theo and Kiki for being cop killers. Sid, a police officer, is just finding this out now. The next morning, the Fish bomb their way into the refugee camp. Sid knows it is not a prison break. Some Fugees escape, but he realizes the Fish have come for Kiki and Theo. Sid also has some official information that the military plans to nuke the refugee camp. Sid and Marikar wake Theo and Kiki up pretending to help them escape. They really have plans to turn them in for the reward.

When Sid and Markiar find out about the baby, Sid goes nuts, and Marikar becomes sympathetic. Marikar tells them that Sid is up to no good, and not to trust him. So Sid takes them at gun point. The three of them box Sid down, and make an escape. Theo in his flip flops hurts his foot.

There is war all over the streets. Theo tells Marikar they need a boat. They go to visit Marikar's family. They have to wait there for awhile and play with the baby. Theo gets shoes. A little later, they are back on the move with Fatboy in the lead. Fatboy takes Theo, Kiki, and Marikar towards the boat. On the way, they are ambushed by Luke and the Fish. Luke takes Kiki away. The Fish are told to kill the rest of them. The Fish kill Fatboy. Then gunmen start shooting at the Fish. In the middle of gunfire, Theo and Marikar escape.

They split up. Marikar finds a boat, and Theo goes to rescue Kiki. Theo runs into a building looking for Kiki. He hears the baby cry, and finds her. Outside, tanks are seiging the building they are in. Luke is in a gunfight with the tank soldiers, and gets shot up. In the heat of battle, Theo is somehow mortally wounded. Theo takes Kiki right past all the soldiers. The soldiers stare at the baby in awe. For no good reason, the soldiers let them get away.

Theo and Kiki meet up with Markiar who takes them to a row boat. Theo and Kiki get into the row boat, and row to the weather buoy to meet up with the Tomorrow Boat. Theo dies from his mortal wounds. Kiki names her baby, Dillan. The Refugee Camp is nuked. The Tomorrow Boat rescues Kiki, and takes her to the Human Project. Kiki and her baby live happily ever after.




Here is what I do not get.
Theo left work early. Jasper came to the station to pick him up just to go smoke some dope? Then drop him off back to the city. What was the whole point?
Why didn't anybody notice these 3 Osama Bin Ladens that were all over the news. Sid did not notice until he saw the news that night. Nobody on the bus, people or officers noticed.

Yes it is. Who wants to actually pay for the book?

Normal people.

I suppose you have a point................

mmmm children

Jasper is his father i think and Janice is his mother (the catatonic woman). She was totured by the government, if you watch the movie closely you see a newspaper article about it on Jaspers mirror/mantle piece. We had to study this movie. Its pretty boring when you see it so much!
This might explain why there are many unknown answers:
"I despise movies that explain. I enjoy a movie that allows the viewer to come up with their own conclusions." -Alfonso Cuaron.
It is his directing style - it helped me understand why there are unanswered questions, just like the ending.

Does fiction have to make sense?

Children of Men might well be the best film I've seen in ... years. It's hard to recall a film as good as this one. Michael Caine is astounding in his supporting role, and the long-take scenes are among the finest I've ever witnessed. I still cannot believe the later scene as Theo moves through the refugee-camp battle. Absolutely mind-boggling.

I have a great appreciation for films in which the principal characters simply do the right thing. Indeed, this is one of the few redeeming impacts of the otherwise godawful disaster film Deep Impact. In this case, both Theo and Jasper are models of sacrifice, flames of legend to kindle hope for the human spirit.

• • •


Does fiction have to make sense?

Yes. The flip-side is that it has no obligation to make sense to any one person.

There is an old adage that says, "Truth is stranger than fiction". The rest of this aphorism explains that the reason for such a principle is that fiction, sooner or later, must make sense.

The context of how something makes sense is, of course, arguable.

• • •


For no good reason, the soldiers let them get away.

For no good reason? Shit, there's a small war taking place, and here comes a parade that represents the future of all humankind. That's why they let them pass.

Children of Men might well be the best film I've seen in ... years. It's hard to recall a film as good as this one. Michael Caine is astounding in his supporting role, and the long-take scenes are among the finest I've ever witnessed. I still cannot believe the later scene as Theo moves through the refugee-camp battle. Absolutely mind-boggling.

I have a great appreciation for films in which the principal characters simply do the right thing. Indeed, this is one of the few redeeming impacts of the otherwise godawful disaster film Deep Impact. In this case, both Theo and Jasper are models of sacrifice, flames of legend to kindle hope for the human spirit.

• • •



Yes. The flip-side is that it has no obligation to make sense to any one person.

There is an old adage that says, "Truth is stranger than fiction". The rest of this aphorism explains that the reason for such a principle is that fiction, sooner or later, must make sense.

The context of how something makes sense is, of course, arguable.

• • •



For no good reason? Shit, there's a small war taking place, and here comes a parade that represents the future of all humankind. That's why they let them pass.
Yes I agree one of the best films in a long time even though they never explain the baby syndrome/virgin birth anomoly. As for the soldiers letting them pass. Here is what makes no sense. Here is a group of people with a baby. Something nobody believes to have existed, and the fascist military doesn't confiscate it or say anything?

It was a good film I agree and "Michael Caine is astounding: as Tiassa said. But I can't get over the fact that the world's demise is caused by a sudden infertility epidemic. It is just too inconceivable. That premise is more fit for a zombie movie, or a steven king movie.

As for the soldiers letting them pass. Here is what makes no sense. Here is a group of people with a baby. Something nobody believes to have existed, and the fascist military doesn't confiscate it or say anything?

Those soldiers on the ground are no more the fascist government than our grunts in Iraq. Rather, they are human beings, beholding in that moment the hope of a new future, the potential end of their despair. Start from the first soldiers who encounter the child. The looks on their faces, the confusion in their actions. All they know is that not one of them wants to be the one to blow it for the whole human species. In the moment, that's the stake.

• • •


But I can't get over the fact that the world's demise is caused by a sudden infertility epidemic. It is just too inconceivable.

It's called suspension of disbelief. We accept that X-Wings and TIE-Fighters fly like airplanes in an atmosphere. We accept Middle Earth and One Ring to Rule Them All. We accept headbands that constrict human mental function in order to make all people equal. We accept the Brave New World, Unknown Kadath, the Inferno, or any number of classic, improbable myths. We do this because the point at which the story makes sense occurs in a specific context delineated by the tale itself. For the cynics, though, I don't see why a virus that brings such a symptom is so far-fetched. It could start with something like bovine viral diarrhea. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome came from birds, and last year saw a scare with something called Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome. So it doesn't seem a tremendous stretch of the imagination that some sort of disease handled improperly by governments that did not understand what they were dealing with could have such an effect. But that's just me. I just shrugged, ran with the premise, and found the tale captivating, frightening yet reassuring. There is a multivalent morality play taking place throughout, and the presence of human beings who choose to do the right thing because no alternative is viable, because it is the right thing to do, is a subtly powerful comfort within an otherwise unsettling dystopic proposition.

Yes I agree one of the best films in a long time even though they never explain the baby syndrome/virgin birth anomoly. As for the soldiers letting them pass. Here is what makes no sense. Here is a group of people with a baby. Something nobody believes to have existed, and the fascist military doesn't confiscate it or say anything?


she wasn't a virgin. :bugeye: There was no immorality attached to sex anymore. You didn't have to worry about supporting a child or who the dad was. men didn't have to worry about their woman carrying another man's child. You could have unprotected sex all day long and not worry about getting pregnant. That's why she didn't know who the father was.

Jasper is his father i think and Janice is his mother (the catatonic woman). She was totured by the government, if you watch the movie closely you see a newspaper article about it on Jaspers mirror/mantle piece. ....

no, they were just Theo's friends, not parents

It's called suspension of disbelief. We accept that X-Wings and TIE-Fighters fly like airplanes in an atmosphere. We accept Middle Earth and One Ring to Rule Them All. We accept headbands that constrict human mental function in order to make all people equal. We accept the Brave New World, Unknown Kadath, the Inferno, or any number of classic, improbable myths. We do this because the point at which the story makes sense occurs in a specific context delineated by the tale itself. For the cynics, though, I don't see why a virus that brings such a symptom is so far-fetched. It could start with something like bovine viral diarrhea. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome came from birds, and last year saw a scare with something called Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome. So it doesn't seem a tremendous stretch of the imagination that some sort of disease handled improperly by governments that did not understand what they were dealing with could have such an effect. But that's just me. I just shrugged, ran with the premise, and found the tale captivating, frightening yet reassuring. There is a multivalent morality play taking place throughout, and the presence of human beings who choose to do the right thing because no alternative is viable, because it is the right thing to do, is a subtly powerful comfort within an otherwise unsettling dystopic proposition.

Yeah, if I can "suspend my disbelief" of zombies (in 28 days/weeks), then ... still something that bothers me. Maybe that it's depressing as hell and the movie was trying too hard to depress us: The end of humanity is imenent, the youngest person on earth has just been assasinated, One pregnant woman has been found, must be protected at all costs, and guided to "The Tomorrow ship" from a secret group working on the "Human project". OK! I get it! would appreciate some subtleness though...

Those soldiers on the ground are no more the fascist government than our grunts in Iraq. Rather, they are human beings, beholding in that moment the hope of a new future, the potential end of their despair. Start from the first soldiers who encounter the child. The looks on their faces, the confusion in their actions. All they know is that not one of them wants to be the one to blow it for the whole human species. In the moment, that's the stake.

• • •



It's called suspension of disbelief. We accept that X-Wings and TIE-Fighters fly like airplanes in an atmosphere. We accept Middle Earth and One Ring to Rule Them All. We accept headbands that constrict human mental function in order to make all people equal. We accept the Brave New World, Unknown Kadath, the Inferno, or any number of classic, improbable myths. We do this because the point at which the story makes sense occurs in a specific context delineated by the tale itself. For the cynics, though, I don't see why a virus that brings such a symptom is so far-fetched. It could start with something like bovine viral diarrhea. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome came from birds, and last year saw a scare with something called Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome. So it doesn't seem a tremendous stretch of the imagination that some sort of disease handled improperly by governments that did not understand what they were dealing with could have such an effect. But that's just me. I just shrugged, ran with the premise, and found the tale captivating, frightening yet reassuring. There is a multivalent morality play taking place throughout, and the presence of human beings who choose to do the right thing because no alternative is viable, because it is the right thing to do, is a subtly powerful comfort within an otherwise unsettling dystopic proposition.

I agree.

The multi morality of all the characters, lights the fire of hope in this movie.

The intent is not to depress people. It's an action adventure flim.

It's called suspension of disbelief. We accept that X-Wings and TIE-Fighters fly like airplanes in an atmosphere. We accept Middle Earth and One Ring to Rule Them All. We accept headbands that constrict human mental function in order to make all people equal. We accept the Brave New World, Unknown Kadath, the Inferno, or any number of classic, improbable myths. We do this because the point at which the story makes sense occurs in a specific context delineated by the tale itself.
I think a person's expectations about what the movie will be like has a lot to do with it. I don't mind fantasy stuff in Lord of the Rings or scientifically-implausible stuff in a sci-fi movie because I've accepted in advance that such things will be going on in the movie. It's similar with horror movies; I don't believe in ghosts, but I can still enjoy movies about haunting etc because, well, that's the point of the movie.

Like others here, I was pretty bothered by the absurdity of Children of Men's whole "suddenly no one anywhere can reproduce" thing. But why did it bother me in this movie when I accept things in other movies that are so much more unlikely? I think it's because I was expecting this to be a "serious" piece of drama. Since I hadn't accepted in advance that the movie would have some implausible sci-fi elements, it bothered me much more. Imagine a serious spy movie in which at the end the hero suddenly pulls out a laser pistol and vaporizes everyone. I suspect that everyone would be really pissed off about it, even though we all accept much less absurd things in other movies.

I fucking loved that movie. It was class.

Just to sidetrack, I am constantly impressed by Tiassa's perception and eloquence (long obscure words notwithstanding) even though his brain is soaked in drugs.