children of men analysis

Children of men analysis

Audience

This film is aimed at people over the age of fifteen. The opening addresses political issues that are going on within the film. Someone under the age of fifteen might not be interested in that level of maturity within films that they watch. The visual content within the film also leads me to believe that the film would be suitable for people aged fifteen and above. At the end of the opening just after the explosion, a woman walks out of the cafe holding her severed limb. This may not be appropriate for someone under the age of fifteen to view.

The film will be aimed mainly at men, the explosion suggests that this is an action film which is a genre more predominantly watched by men. Also women might find some of the content a bit more graphic than men will. The main protagonist in this film is male and therefore it may be easier for men to relate to this film.

Genre- This film is an action, thriller and drama. In the opening scene, explosives were used to blow up the cafe. this signifies that this could be an action film. At the beginning of the opening there was a news report on the tv in the cafe. This was explaining to both the characters in the film and to the audience what had been going on prior to that moment in the film. The fact that social issues were introduced at this point could make this film a drama. Even though what is happening in the film is complete fiction, it can still be related to social issues that are going on in the world. At the end of the film opening a woman walked out of the cafe holding her detached arm, this was quite a shock for the audience as not only is it something that you wouldn't see every day, it is also quite a graphic image, therefore because of the gore factor, this film could be classed as a thriller.

Narrative- The complete narrative of the film isn't predictable, however, form the opening you can tell that there is some form of worldwide conflict going on. From the news interview that is on the tv in the cafe, we have gathered that all the children are dead, this is because the news reporter was explaining how the youngest person in the world, aged 18, had just been killed. The film is set in the future, however only small changes had been made, if anything the world looked to be getting worst.With how our world is advancing these days, this suggests that this conflict could have been going on for a while and therefore, this is the reason why things haven't moved forward.

Character- From the film opening, you can only really get a clear image of what the main protagonist is like. We don't meet any other strong characters in the opening. The majority of the people in the cafe at the beginning were men. This could signify that the women aren't as significant in this film. That also ties in with the title of the film 'Children of men'. We find out that all the children are dead and then the majority of the people inch shot are men.

Atmosphere- The atmosphere is quite eerie in the film opening, this is because the lighting is quite dull and foggy and then there is an explosion at the end of the opening. When the woman walked out of the cafe holding her arm it allowed the audience to see that whatever problems are going on in the film, it is happening everywhere.

Themes- The main theme of this film is war and conflict. By the news report in the cafe and the explosion at the end it is obvious that there is a war going on, you can also tel this by how un kept the streets of London are. When the main protagonist came out of the cafe, there was a large pile of rubbish bags just stacked to the side of the road. All of the stress were really dusty and dirty swell. By how murky the streets were, it looks as though there could have been others explosions that had gone off.



Sound- At the start of the clip the non diegetic sound of a news report was playing. This straight away gave the audience information into what had happened prior to the point that they are watching from. The audience hear about it at the same time as the other people in the film. This make the audience feel more involved in the film. At the end of the opening there was screaming. This adds to the sack of what had just happened and also put emphasis on how traumatic what had just happened was.

Doing this analysis has helped me to look more in depth into film openings and it has helped me to look at the significance of things in more depth which will help me when I'm in my exam as well as thinking about my own film opening.