Children of Men: Complete ShowMe Overview

Over the course of this year I have been creating a series of Show Me videos on the film Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuaron. I have been using the film as a text for the Higher Level Leaving Certificate Exam 2013. We compared the film in class through the comparative modes of THEME and CULTURAL CONTEXT (the third comparative mode of Literary Genre is briefly discussed in different videos). Our theme was Persistence and the other texts we used were The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

Didn't do those modes or theme? Don't panic.I tried to create the videos in such a way that they would be helpful to pupils no matter what comparative modes you used or theme you had in your class. Each video discusses roughly 13 minutes of the film at a time. A major reason for creating the videos was that, I found, pupils experienced difficulty in recollecting key (no pun intended!) images and quotes from the film compared to their written texts. As such, each video looks at the key  visual images from that section of the film along with the key quotations from the characters.

Listed below are links to each individual video. I hope it might be a helpful resource to teachers in future years and make life a little easier for our stressed pupils in the middle of the revision season 2013!

1.    Video 1 and 2 -  Link to the introductory video and the first 13 minute analysis video. It might make the long revision process ahead a little easier!  
(Note: Spelling should read Foogies in video 1)

2.    Video 3 -  This video looks at some major themes from this section of the movie and the cultural context presented within the film. The end of the video also contains the major quotes from this section of the movie.

3.    Video 4 -  In this section: Julian dies, Kee is pregnant and dogs love Theo...there's lots to talk about! 

4.    Video 5 -  - Luke's rise to power. The development of Kee and Theo's friendship. Where are the Azores!? Patrick gets kicked from a car...again!

5.    Video 6 -Jasper makes the ultimate sacrifice.Theo finds a reason to go on.No schools in the future: a good thing? Does the Human Project exist at all !?

6.    Video 7 - Sid thinks Sid has a great plan but gets 'blocked' by Theo. Does baby Dylan completely change the cultural context of her world? Bex Hill: Refugee or concentration camp? Miriam's ultimate sacrifice: for the cause or for friendship? Or both? 
(Also hear what a complete mental block sounds like at about 1:45 into the video!)

7.    Video 8 -  People are essentially good. Theo shows what courage looks like. Luke has his Dunsinane moment. Soldiers love babies but love fighting more. Why does the movie end at sea? The Tomorrow.

I hope this helped!
Enjoy