Overview

A mirror of tomorrow, Alfonso Cuarón’s visionary Children of Men (2006) was released to good reviews and poor box office but is now regarded by many as a twenty-first-century masterpiece. Its propulsive story dramatizes a dystopian future when an infertile humanity hurtles toward extinction and an African refugee holds the key to its survival. Cuarón creates a documentary of the near future when Britain’s totalitarian government hunts down and cages refugees like animals as the world descends into violent chaos. In the midst of xenophobia and power abuses that have led to a permanent state of emergency, Children of Men inspires with a story of hope and political resistance. Dan Dinello explicates Children of Men’s politically progressive significance in the context of today’s rise of authoritarianism and white nationalism. Though topical at the time, the film now feels as if it’s been torn from today’s headlines. Examining the film from ideological, psychological, and philosophical perspectives, the book explores the film’s connection to post-9/11 apocalyptic narratives, its evolutionary twist to the nativity story, its warning about the rise of neofascism, and its visual uniqueness as science fiction, delving into the film’s gritty hyper-realistic style and the innovative filmic techniques developed by director Cuarón and his cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki. Dinello explores the film’s criticism of the pathologies of a reactionary politics that normalize discriminatory hierarchies and perpetuate vast differences in privilege. Children of Men prods us to imagine an egalitarian alternative with a narrative that urges emotional identification with rebels, outcasts, and racial and ethnic outsiders.

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9781999334024

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Reviews

This is an impressive, intelligent and perceptive analysis of a film increasingly recognised in retrospect as a classic of modern dystopian cinema. Reading this treatise, it’s impossible not to be continually reminded how often the story’s disturbing conjectures feel like something you might hear about in tomorrow’s news headlines. * Starburst * ‘This book is a very good extended analysis of the film, arguing that it welds the form and content into a political and social critique of the trend of authoritarian politics currently spreading through the Western world. […] It is a useful study of how a speculative film can provide an anamorphic lens on our contemporary social situation by shocking its audience both visually and narratively.’ Ezekiel Crago, Fantastika Journal 'The book can be of special interest to scholars working in the field of speculative fiction and film studies with its rich analysis. [...] Dinello’s book has a strong potential to find a readership beyond academia and is a valuable contribution to utopian studies, film studies, and science fiction studies that will prove highly beneficial for relevant future research. Through this successful book, Dinello reminds us once more of the significance of maintaining utopian hope for the achievement of “an egalitarian, altruistic and non-authoritarian society that pursues the common good, accommodates plurality, and amplifies the sense of human and social possibility”.' Emrah Atasoy, The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 'This Constellations entry is highly recommended, illustrated with 42 black-and-white stills and enhanced by Dinello’s impeccably well-written prose that offers an intense textual analysis that never resorts to tedium. The brevity and affordable nature of books like those in the Constellations series make them excellent for the classroom setting... Whether for classroom use or personal research, this volume is certainly endorsed as a study of a film worthy of further exploration.'Zachary Ingle, SFRA Review

This is an impressive, intelligent and perceptive analysis of a film increasingly recognised in retrospect as a classic of modern dystopian cinema. Reading this treatise, it's impossible not to be continually reminded how often the story's disturbing conjectures feel like something you might hear about in tomorrow's news headlines. * Starburst * 'This book is a very good extended analysis of the film, arguing that it welds the form and content into a political and social critique of the trend of authoritarian politics currently spreading through the Western world. [...] It is a useful study of how a speculative film can provide an anamorphic lens on our contemporary social situation by shocking its audience both visually and narratively.' Ezekiel Crago, Fantastika Journal

This is an impressive, intelligent and perceptive analysis of a film increasingly recognised in retrospect as a classic of modern dystopian cinema. Reading this treatise, it’s impossible not to be continually reminded how often the story’s disturbing conjectures feel like something you might hear about in tomorrow’s news headlines. * Starburst * ‘This book is a very good extended analysis of the film, arguing that it welds the form and content into a political and social critique of the trend of authoritarian politics currently spreading through the Western world. […] It is a useful study of how a speculative film can provide an anamorphic lens on our contemporary social situation by shocking its audience both visually and narratively.’ Ezekiel Crago, Fantastika Journal 'The book can be of special interest to scholars working in the field of speculative fiction and film studies with its rich analysis. [...] Dinello’s book has a strong potential to find a readership beyond academia and is a valuable contribution to utopian studies, film studies, and science fiction studies that will prove highly beneficial for relevant future research. Through this successful book, Dinello reminds us once more of the significance of maintaining utopian hope for the achievement of “an egalitarian, altruistic and non-authoritarian society that pursues the common good, accommodates plurality, and amplifies the sense of human and social possibility”.' Emrah Atasoy, The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 'This Constellations entry is highly recommended, illustrated with 42 black-and-white stills and enhanced by Dinello’s impeccably well-written prose that offers an intense textual analysis that never resorts to tedium. The brevity and affordable nature of books like those in the Constellations series make them excellent for the classroom setting... Whether for classroom use or personal research, this volume is certainly endorsed as a study of a film worthy of further exploration.' Zachary Ingle, SFRA Review

This is an impressive, intelligent and perceptive analysis of a film increasingly recognised in retrospect as a classic of modern dystopian cinema. Reading this treatise, it's impossible not to be continually reminded how often the story's disturbing conjectures feel like something you might hear about in tomorrow's news headlines.--Rich Cross Starburst

Author Information

Dan Dinello is the author of Technophobia! Science Fiction Visions of the Posthuman Future. Professor emeritus at Columbia College Chicago, he has contributed chapters to numerous books including Westworld and Philosophy, Avatar and Philosophy: Learning to See, The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy as well as pop culture stories for The Chicago Tribune and political articles for the Website Informed Comment.

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