Film Opening Analysis - Children of Men

I thought the genre of the film was a mix of Sci-fi and action, as it is set in 2027, also there seems to be a slight advance in technology, such as the motion advertising on the buses etc. The action genre seemed emphasised when the explosion went off by the cafe, this isn't a usual occurance, therefore making it look like an action.

The purpose of the opening sequence was to show the current state of the world, it has been represented as a dystopia. The opening also informs the audience of the situation where humans have become infertile, and the youngest human had just died in Rio. The main character (Clive Owen) has been introduced, he as been portrayed as not very bothered by the happenings around him, just keeps his head down and gets on with his life. This gives us the impression that he is an anti-hero, due to his actions towards certain things as the explosion for example he simply jumps backwards then goes off to work carrying on with his day as normal. This gives the audience the impression that this does happen quite often.

The media language is used in several ways in the opening few minutes of this film, firstly the use of diagetic sound from the television in the shop. Next the is the introduction of Clive Owen, he enters the shop where everyone is stood still watching the TV and sqeezes his way through toward the counter to order a coffee. This is very clever as he sticks out as he is the only one moving in the scene. As he leaves the store you can see that the City is very run down and dull, very little lightingis used here to create a mood. The current date in the film then appears on screen setting the time of the film. It then shows a red london bus coming into the screen and it pans round Clive Owen who has stopped to put whisky into his coffee, this is very clever as it shows the advertisment which is moving on the side of the bus. This reprensents the advance in technology. The use of hand-held camera when he is leaving the cafe adds a sense of realism to the film. Mise en scene is used with the clothing people seem to be wearing as nobody we see looks to be very well off which is unsual in London. A fair few long shots are used setting the scene of London and represents it in such a bad state, more use of dystopia. The high pitched, constant, non-digetic use of sound after the explosion is used for realism as this is what you would expect to hear if a loud noise had jus gone off right next to you such as a bomb. This then leads to the scene of the office, where Clive Owen walks in on lots of women crying about the death of Baby Diego, this is a representation of gender, as women are all crying about it, whereas men dont seem to bothered or they are but are just hiding it. This gives you the impression that men are emotionally stronger than women in the film. When Clive Owen is on the train home there are TV screens on there showing cities around the world in distress, then stating that Britain 'Soldiers On'. This adds to the setting of the scene in London where it zooms into the screen showing Big Ben. You then hear the diagetic sound of the clock bells ringing.