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Sort of agree, but the open-ended aspect of Cuaron's tale also provides an easy cop-out that arguably weakens the story.

>>> "IMO, all these background details would just bog down the modern story of the Nativity told by Cuaron, though they could make for an interesting, conventional science fiction film." <<<

The christian religious subtext isn't one of the film's strengths, IMO. In a sense, Cueron's film is not just anti-SF, but anti-science and anti-cultural diversity. Such allegories were commonplace during the cold-war when science fiction cautionaries played into the 'us against them' public psyche of nuclear fear that contrasted our christo-capitalist culture with the then-godless communists.

When H.G. Well's War of The Worlds was adapted and updated for Hollywood treatment in the 1950's, religious themes were heavily employed to drive home the East vs. West allegory along with the cautionary moral about science being subserviant to religious values, but in today's world, when religious extremism threatens mankind on every front such preachy themes not only seem antiquated, but out of touch with reality.

Getting back to Children of Men. To some extent, Cueron appears to fault science for mankind's infertility, that it's "god's" punishment. The allegory would still have been there if he had asserted that this outcome resulted from an act or acts of terrorism or environmental catastrophy, etc., but failing to do so only amplifies the religious symbolism. This vagueness actually works against the film rather than for it.

The war ghetto and islam verses christian themes resound in the last 20 or so minutes of the film and the importance of the inexplicable baby is made all too precious to the story emphasizing the nativity angle, but in the end it becomes more of a chase movie with the baby being a McGuffin football headed for the goal line. Even then, we don't know what, or who's goal.

These are all caveats, but my point here is not to condemn a film which I admire and find compelling on several levels, but to make note of other near-future cautionaries which in my estimation pull off their themes more artfully and are, in my estimation, are much more entertaining: films such as Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and Terry Gilliam's Brazil, and even James McTeigue's V for Vendetta (Wachowski bros. screenplay).

That said, I'd recommend seeing Children of Men, even if it falls short of greatness. I believe that Director Cueron achieved what he set out to do, even if I don't agree with all of his choices or resolution.

AuPh

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