MovieChat Forums > Children of Men (2007) Discussion > Dreadlocks...?

Dreadlocks...?

posted 9 years ago by Don_Cheech
15 replies | jump to latest

Just watched this film for the first time, trying to put it all together.

So... Who were the people with the dreadlocks? The fat lady that traveled with them, prayed to Gabriel on the bus before being taken away... And, the guy from sons of anarchy, who killed michael Caine over a fart joke and had a stunt double for no reason...

Who are these people? Are these the "refugees"? Why were they so set on finding the baby and killing whoever was in the way?

Are they different from the savages that attacked the car shot Julian?

I guess I'm just lost on the politics. I'd appreciate a solid breakdown. Thanks

[–] TheMouseShadow 9 years ago

Pay attention and not text during the whole film the next time and it should make sense.

[–] Don_Cheech 9 years ago

Thanks. Thanks alot.

[–] TheMouseShadow 9 years ago

Fishes = militant immigration rights groups - want the baby and want to board the ship namesd tomorrow, controlled by Human project, that is dedicated to curing infertility..

Fugees = deluge of illegal immigrants locked up by the government to control the influx

Jillian double crossed by Luke because he wants to take control of Fishes, use baby as propaganda to further their cause, and not give baby to human project.

[–] Robb_Stark 9 years ago

I really don't understand what you're asking. What do dreadlocks have to do with any of this?

They were both Fishes. Miriam was a woman who was taking care of Kee. Since she was a former mid-wife, she knew what she was doing and most likely formed a special bond with Kee. Patric was just another Fish, more on the radical side.

Who are these people?

The Fishes were a terrorist group whose goal was to get rights for the immigrants who were being mistreated by the government. Theo's ex-wife Julian was their leader. Luke was sort of her second in command, or at least a higher up.

Are they different from the savages that attacked the car shot Julian?

Yes and no. Once Kee's pregnancy was discovered, Julian and Luke both had different goals for how to deal with the situation. Julian wanted to avoid the government since Kee was an fugee, and wanted to take her to the Human Project so they could experiment and whatnot to find a cure or at least some answers. She threw her political goals aside because she was thinking about the sake of humanity. Luke on the other hand, wanted to use the baby against the government as some sort of political tool to take them down. It was a stupid idea. I guess he felt like Julian was abandoning their cause they had been fighting for for years. He was hellbent on revenge for the atrocities the government had committed.

These savages weren't Fishes, just random people who lived in the countryside. Luke hired them to ambush him and the rest on the way to the farm, and then had another Fish, Patric (blonde dreads) and his cousin kill Julian via dirtbike to make it look like a random act of violence instead of an assassination (again, stupid plan). Then Luke was elected the new leader and he could go about his plan against the government.

Why were they so set on finding the baby and killing whoever was in the way?

As stated before, Luke wanted to use the baby as leverage against the government somehow. How? Who knows. But he was hellbent on revenge against them and would do anything to get the baby back and throw his revolution into action.

AWW *beep* IT'S WAYNE BRADY SON!

[–] Don_Cheech 9 years ago

Good info. but one thing;

Luke hired them to ambush him and the rest on the way to the farm

is this definite? it seems like Luke put himself in danger then.. no? I mean it didnt really seem like any of that was planned.

[–] Robb_Stark 9 years ago

Yes that's exactly what happened, that was the point. Luke being in the middle of the danger made him look less suspicious.

They get attacked, Patric and his cousin kill Julian while riding their dirtbike, and Theo hits them with the car door resulting in them crashing. Later they get to the farm, Luke is elected leader, Theo discover Kee's secret, etc. Then later that night Theo hears the bike coming into the farm. He overhears the assassination plot. Patric and his cousin were supposed to kill Julian and go hide somewhere, but Patric's cousin got heavily wounded in the crash and in a panic, Patric came back to the farm to get him medical attention. This is why Luke and the others were so angry that they came back. It was supposed to look like a random ambush, but Patric coming back to the farm giving unwanted attention blew their cover. It's also why Patric wanted to kill Theo so badly.

AWW *beep* IT'S WAYNE BRADY SON!

[–] Don_Cheech 9 years ago

Thanks. So Luke wanted Theo dead because he...well somewhat, sabotaged their plan? By injuring Patric?

So basically, luke wants to make sure any newborn is dead?

[–] neonhomer 9 years ago

Most likely Luke wanted Theo dead because he's a loose thread and an eyewitness.

Luke wanted the baby to further the cause of the Fishes, to incite the uprising against the government.

[–] Robb_Stark 9 years ago

But Patric REALLY wanted him dead because of his cousin. "Where's Faron? He's a f-cking dead man".

Also when they catch Theo and the rest at Bexhill, Patric runs up and punches Theo in the stomach claiming that his cousin had died.

AWW *beep* IT'S WAYNE BRADY SON!

[–] WerdnaMernox 8 years ago

The man with dreads was Patric, one of the Fishes who conspired with Luke to kill Julian.

The woman with dreads was Miriam, a midwife brought in by Julian to help deliver Kee's baby.

There isn't a connection between them. There's no dreadlock conspiracy. It's two people with a similar hairstyle.

[–] Don_Cheech 8 years ago

Ok ok. That's a solid explanation^. And honesty I really tried to pay attention to the film - even had subtitles on. I'm just trying to boil down the plot.

So one group (Julian & Theo) want the baby to survive- to cure infertility.

The other group - (Patric & Luke) are not so much concerned with curing infertility- but moreso of using the baby as leverage- to ultimately overthrow the government.

Next question: what exactly do the latter group have against the government? What is the motive behind the rebellion?

I just want to make sure I understand the film. For the record, I did enjoy it.

[–] WerdnaMernox 8 years ago

So, Julian was the head of the Fishes, and her goal was to get Kee and the baby to the Human Project (I think it was called) to study and cure infertility. But Luke & Patric assassinated Julian in a coup and took over the Fishes.

[I think 'Fishes' as the name of a group refers to the Christian fish symbol; under Julian they might have been motivated to fight against the government for peace and justice. Eventually they became left-wing anti government terrorists, at least partly.]

It seems that the government of the UK, to protect the seeming last bastion of economic and societal cohesion, has turned to oppressing immigrants and political dissidents. Luke wants Kee's baby because he thinks it will lead to more people turning against the government. It's unclear if Luke wants that for ideological reasons or if it's lust for power.

I forget if someone mentioned the burning cows ... Children of Men was made near the end of the ban against UK beef because of Mad Cow disease; livestock had to be destroyed during that time, and that included burning them iirc. I don't know why it would be taking place during the movie, but it's a striking and horrible image.

[–] Ironman54 8 years ago

"... livestock had to be destroyed... but it's a striking and horrible image."

So I take it you don't barbeque ?

[–] WerdnaMernox 8 years ago

Ha ha ha, love me some smoked Texas brisket. It's horrible to see some perfectly good cow go to waste like that.

[–] Robb_Stark 8 years ago

Next question: what exactly do the latter group have against the government? What is the motive behind the rebellion?

At the time of the story, England was the "last stable government". After babies stopped bring born, almost every other country on earth was in total collapse due to war, famine, disease, etc (for example, it was implied that New York was hit by an atomic bomb at some point, and America was engaged in some type of war on our own soil), so England was receiving mass amount of immigrants trying to seek refuge in the country. Britain is already a small country, so they weren't having it. They eventually banned all immigrants, and caught any illegals and sent them to camps, and treated them like vermin (as we saw in Bexhill), deported, or most likely killed some of them. The Fishes were terrorists who fought for rights for the immigrants. Many of them were likely immigrants themselves, had family who were foreign, or were just citizens who sympathized with them.

AWW *beep* IT'S WAYNE BRADY SON!