Children of Men: Film Review

The Cabinet Of Dr.Caligari (Robert Weine,1920) The Handmaids Tale (Episode 1-2, Season 1)

The handmaid’s tale is an adaptation of the 1985 novel, the handmaid’s tale written by Margaret Atwood. The series shows on Hulu and the series premiere episode entitled Offred takes us deep into the Margaret Atwood’s world.

The first episode of the series has a title similar to the main character’s name, Offred. The event happens in the near future where the united states of America have collapsed and have in turn, been replaced with the Gilead theocracy.

The episode quickly brings in the theme of suffering and oppression of women. In a world where most of the women remain barren due to the high levels of pollution and radiation, few of them who can still bear children, referred to as handmaids, are owned by the elite in the society.

Women have no rights whatsoever and a handmaid’s sole purpose is to bear children for their commanders and their barren companions. Women do not even have the liberty to own a name. The central character’s name, Offred, is a name that was given to her. The name signifies that she is the possession of someone, in this case, Fred. The name means “of Fred.”

The central character notices how so much drastic change has taken place and the existence of the unjust laws that govern women in the current world. In her own words, she says, “my name is Offred, I had another name, but it’s forbidden now. So many things are forbidden now.”

The film further depicts the theme of brutality through the wife of the commander, Serena Joy. Serena, just as she was in Margaret Atwood’s novel, is very unkind and cruel to Offred.

The type of clothes that the characters wear further shows the different classes in society. Wives of commanders wear blue clothing, the workers who cook and clean, referred to as Martha’s, wear green, while handmaids such as Offred wear red clothing.

Any woman who had the positions mentioned earlier, such as workers and handmaids, are to consider themselves favoured in society. Others who are deemed not worthy of being women and taken to the colonies for the sole purpose of cleaning waste products till they meet their unfortunate, or to some, fortunate demise.

In the second episode of the show, the theme of death is brought out, and we see how easily people are killed because of going against the stipulated laws. As Offred and another handmaid Ofglen walk home from the market, they pass the wall where we see the stringing up of people’s bodies so that they act as an example to the rest of society. Handmaids are expected to always walk in twos so that they can keep a close eye on each other and report when one goes astray.

The film then shows a theme of resistance when Ofglen invites Offred to join a particular group that fights the governmental regime. Further into the episode, as the birth mobile approaches, Offred begins to feel nostalgic and remembers her own labour experience in the car as her husband looks drove to the hospital. So much sadness and sorrow loomed over the society that Offred often had to take her mind back to the good old days to feel a glimmer of joy in her heart.

The oppression of women is a dominant theme in the show. The drastic changes that have occurred have stripped women of their rights and made them objects that can be possessed and disposed of at any single moment.

Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock,1958) Children Of Men (Alfonso Cuaron,2006)

The children of men is set in the year 2027, where chaos reigns supreme. The occurrences of natural calamities and various acts of terrorism have caused most of the parts of the earth to be uninhabitable by human beings. Most other parts of the world do not have any governing systems promoting further chaos and destruction. The only place with some façade of law and order in the country Britain whereby there are brutal police officers who uphold law and order.

The movie shows us the current state of the world and it is undoubtedly in ruins. The city London, for instance, shows us just how far the world has fallen. The vivid pictorials, the design of the town and the art that depicts London create a close to real illusion of the city.

The set does a perfect job of bringing out the theme of disorder. Giving birth to children is an act of the past and it has been close to 18 years since anyone gave birth to a human child in the movie. The closest thing to children are animals like cats and dogs that are well taken care of in society.

Non-citizens of the country, such as immigrants, are rounded up and locked in cells for not being able to identify with the other citizens. The central character of the movie is Theo Faron who we meet for the first time at a café.

After watching news about the youngest person in the world being stabbed for not giving an autograph, he heads out. Just as he leaves the vicinity, a bomb explodes and destroys the café. Theo is perplexed with the occurrence of events and shows fear written all over his face. The show brings out the theme of war as Britain, the only nation that has a functioning law and order system, fights a resistance that advocates for the rights of the immigrants.

The central character Theo and his once upon a time lover Julian, together with other companions, undertake a journey to the coast, and this creates the main events of the movie. We see the struggles that Theo and the group go through, including being continually pursued by law enforcement agencies particularly homeland security.

The film shows us an extraordinarily violent and engaging pursuit scene between homeland security and Theo and his companions. A single-camera is used to capture the view to increase the impact on the viewers.

The movie shows a theme of struggle as the resistance fight the law enforcement agencies and the Britain government to get their rights and freedoms. The film, however, does not tell us the reason why children have not been born for 18 years.

We only know the above fact but not the reason behind it or the possibility of children being born in the future. The movie warns us, in its way, about the impact of ineptitude in governments and leadership offices in the world today.

Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino,1994) Breathless (Jean Luke Godard,1960)

The movie breathless centers around two characters Michael and Patricia. Michael is a car thief and Patricia, on the other hand, is an American citizen who deals with the Paris edition of the New York herald tribune. Michael ultimately becomes involved with Patricia and this relationship leads to several killings in the movie. Patricia gets attracted to Michael because of the affection and the sex he offers. Patricia is also fascinated by the fierce and gangster personality that Michael has.

Michael often imitates movie stars that he likes and hopes to be just as tough as they are. He watches movies and imitates the actors’ facial expressions and tonal variations. Michael ensures that his look makes him look tough. We see that every time he has a cigarette in his mouth and when he is done with one cigarette he immediately replaces it with another. Despite this tough façade on the outside, Michael is frightened on the inside. He tries very hard not to show weakness or fear.

Patricia gets pregnant as a result of her relationship with Michael, but she does not give the pregnancy and the factors surrounding it the concern that they deserve. She hears rumours that Michael may be married and the name she knows of him may not be his real name. The lighting in the movie is legendary as we see instances where light is used effectively to depict various occurrences in the film.

For example, there is a scene where Michael is in bed and Patricia is sitting beside him. They are both smoking their cigarettes and the light from the window shows how the smoke envelopes them in a cloud.

The movie brings out the theme of relationships and shows the struggles that people undergo in their daily lives. The film depicts the uncertainty of life and shows the need to make efforts to get what we desire.