Children of Men Genre Analysis Essay Sample

Alfonso Cuarons film Children of Men (2006) is an adaptation of the novel Children of Men by P.D James. The film that runs for 109 minutes features casts like Clive Owen, as Theo Faron; Michael Caine, as Jasper Palmer; Julianne Moore as Julian Taylor and ClaireHope Ashitey as Kee, among others. The film is categorized under two genres, that is, sci-fi and drama. According to the filmsite.org, sci-fi or appropriately scientific fiction films are visionary and made up of great imaginations displaying future technologies, extraordinary creatures and improbable events. In these films, the major idea is the destruction or creation of mystic events by technology, science, and unusual happenings. Scientific fiction films recreate an otherwise simple phenomenon into an unusual incident that portrays the past, present and future realities in a mystical way. Drama movies, on the other hand, are presentations driven by the plot of the subject matter and portray real and well-authenticated characters that are well developed and interact well ("Main Film Genres"). The film Children of Men substantially fits into its characterization as a sci-fi and drama and employs this categorization to bring out the present realities in the contemporary society in a very extraordinary manner.

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As stated in the prior parts, the film portrays characters of a science fiction through various mystical happenings and scenes. As in most sci-fi movies, the time setting of the video is not a huge surprise, as every cannot have a better guess at the probable events associated with the year 2027. The extinction of the human race seems a false idea that the film writer brings to reality through a possible scientific mechanism of infertility and barrenness. What astonishes most is the duration of the problem; that is, eighteen years. This concept is probably the most significant scientific fiction in the film. The author uses this fictional fact to bring to light the kind of light attention the contemporary society gives to reproductive health, until it becomes a major scam in their lives. Until the last child dies at the age of eighteen years, not much was at stake to the world inhabitants. The futility of the efforts of the Human Project; the group committed to get remedies for the issue of human fertility and the singularity of Britain as the only functional country on the earths surface; further show the scientific fiction nature of the film. However, the film overturns the sci-fi genre through the inclusion of bomb blasting and battle incidences. These are more of other genres like adventure and action movies and have dilution effects on the films intended science fiction aspect and nature. Elements of romance are also found in the video. An instance is the brief show of the lives Jasper and his wife.

The second aspect of the film is drama. The involvement of real characters and a one-on-one approach to the plot of the story reveals the drama genre aspect of the movie. Although the time setting of the film is in the year 2027, the unfolding of events is presentedquite dramatically. The death of the worlds youngest citizen, the fate of the various families and refugees all portray real life and situational settings. The relation of the different characters is also realistic, and each character helps in the development of the other. Several events in the film are reminiscent of real life situations and are dramatically incorporated to fit into the themes of the movie. The situation in the refugee detention camps, for instance, is characteristic of the position in areas of desperation such as the Holocaust or the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. The director, however, has overturned the aspect of drama by the inclusion of power packed action through the battles, wars, and special effects especially the motion during the attacks. These characteristics are associated with epics, adventures and action genres.

The film Children of Men therefore successfully merits the categorization under the genres of scientific fiction and drama. The director of the movie also takes much credit for the integration of these two types in a fashionably cohesive manner to bring to light the themes aimed at by the plot. Although the existence of traces of scenes and events related to other genres are expected to have a dilution effect on the film's style, the director has ensured that the scientific fiction nature and drama overwhelmingly dominate through the main themes and events in the movie. The chronological unfolding of events in a rather crazy year (2027) does not mix up the viewers perception of reality but rather presents them with the present day reality probably in a darker and more symbolical manner.

Cited Works

"Main Film Genres".Filmsite.Org, 2016, http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html.