Do you find the ending of Children of Men to be hopeful or bleak? Give three very specific pieces of evidence, with time codes, from the film that lead you to find either hopefulness or hopelessness in the ending.
Note, failure to use accurate time codes (e.g. 1:22:43) will mean no credit for this post!
The ending of Children of Men is hopeful. As the movie cuts to black the sounds of children can be heard at 1:40:25 which could be symbolic of the success of the “Human Project” after working with Kee to solve human infertility. The same could be said for at 1:40:01 the name of the boat is Tomorrow, which could represent hope for the future and a new age coming about where humans are able to continue humanity. I also think at 1:32:41 when the British military stops firing at the Fish because of the baby in the building it leaves a very hopeful tone to end the movie on, despite the area being bombed a short time later. It shows how unifying the baby is and how despite all the ideological differences of the two groups the baby trumps all of that and provides awe and hope for the future.
As an expansion on this post I am supporting the alternative perspective that the ending of the movie is bleak. The ending is bleak because of the state of the world at this point. Most countries have divulged into lawless anarchy while the countries with remaining social order, like the UK region, have become big-brother autocratic states. At 00:20:56 Theo asked his cousin “what keeps you going?” who responded in turn, “you know what it is Theo? I just don’t think about it”. This shows the lack of hope that even powerful rich people have not just for the continued existence of humanity but in the near future, regardless of if the fertility problem is solved. The world the baby is being born into is liable to have them exploited or taken advantage of. Their mother could be taken to one of the refugee camps shown at 1:09:08 if discovered by the British authorities. In a world where seemingly innocent civilians can be indiscriminately gunned down in the streets like at 1:27:35 it is hard to have faith for a newborn child and her mother who just went through labor.
