The family is a perennial topic in disaster films, where individuals struggle over moral and ethical decisions that continuously bother their conscience throughout the narrative. In the conventional collapse of modern society in disaster films, the family is oftentimes the only institution left that can withstand the chaos that ensues as a result of government failure. Where there is no community or social structure whatsoever to turn to, the main characters within the disaster narrative resort to forging their own relationships with the people they come into contact with, whether it is based on blood relations, an identical purpose, or a similar personality. As a result of the catastrophic event, these relationships are tested and reexamined in light of the challenges that the situation poses against them. This is true in almost any disaster film, but is evident in post-apocalyptic films that portray the collapse of civil society and the rule of law due to a catastrophe, a calamity, or – as in the case of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later – a viral outbreak. In the film, Boyle uses the various elements of image, sound, and movement to deconstruct and comment upon the nature of familial relationships in circumstances where moral and ethical challenges are the norm. Likewise, in Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men, the family is also a point of discourse, as motherhood is a critical component of the filmic commentary on contemporary world affairs. In so doing, Cuaron intertwines the filmic mise en scene in the wider commentary of the family being collateral damage to the wider conflict between the refugees and the military. In both films, there is a discourse on the moral and ethical implications of the family in light of the conflicts that they present.
28 Days Later
In 28 Days Later, Great Britain has fallen victim to a viral outbreak that has led to a critical collapse of all government and state institutions. “Infected” individuals turn into zombies become blood-thirsty, animalistic creatures intent on killing fellow human beings in order to spread the infection. Families are here rendered obsolete and are collateral damage in the wider catastrophe of the outbreak. What is supposed to be the basic organizational unit of the mankind becomes a fatalistic circumstance in the face of moral and ethical dilemmas. The nuclear family as contemporary society knows it has – to put it simply – collapsed in the face of Armageddon.
Early on in the film, Boyle argues in this line of reasoning through a critical scene where the survivors tell their own stories regarding their families and their loved ones right after their shopping spree. Prior to this crucial scene, Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma to find himself the only inhabitant in London. Deserted, evacuated, and disheveled, London is but a remnant of its former self, and Jim wanders its streets, alleyways, and major thoroughfares alone. “EVACUATION” is imprinted on the headline of a newspaper that he picks up, and it is immediately apparent that London has fallen victim to the “rage” virus. When he encounters zombies during his wanderings, he is saved by two survivors, Mark and Selena, who ignite a gas station to eliminate the zombie horde chasing Jim. When, he is confronted by Mark and Selena as they tell the story of the last four weeks during which the infection spread uncontrollably. Selena narrates the story of the past 28 days, and, when she is finished, Jim immediately asks “And the government, what are they doing?”. When Selena replies that “There is no government”, Jim, almost incredulous, exclaims, “Of course there’s a government! There’s always a government – they’re in a bunker or in a plane.” Jim next inquires about the families of Mark and Selena, implying a deep concern for his own familial relationships amidst the chaos (Saunders 80). According to Karl Martin:
“Jim’s line of questioning suggests his hope that, if government authority is gone, then surely the authority of the nuclear family has been maintained. Mark tells him that his family members and Selena’s family members are all dead and insists that Jim’s family members are most certainly dead as well” (Martin n.p.).
Thus, it is explained that governmental authority has dissipated in the aftermath of the outbreak, setting the stage for the breakdown of the nuclear family and its subsequent replacement by the family of survivors.
Image
The breakdown of the nuclear family and the necessity to forge new familial relationships is emphasized in the critical scene in question. In the ___th minute, Jim, Selena, and Mark, together with newly-found survivors Frank and his daughter Hannah, find a shopping mall or grocery store where they replenish their supplies. During this scene, the typical domestic image of the grocery store is underlined by the fact that the survivors are, from every legal perspective, looting the store. It also evokes a connotation of familial relationships before the outbreak occurred, since the grocery store is the point of domestic sustainability in contemporary society. This notion is emphasized by other images of the survivors within the grocery store itself. In contrast to the gritty streets of London and of the tunnel in the previous scene, as well as to images of the bloody, disheveled zombies, the interior of the department store itself is pristine, neatly organized and in perfect condition. Advertisements for “fresh family values” and “bargain prices” are plastered throughout the store, and there is no sign that zombies or any other looters have sullied the condition of the grocery items.
The grocery items are themselves neatly organized and stacked one upon the other to create a sense of domestic normalcy. G. Christopher Williams, in his essay “Birthing the Undead Family: Reification of the Mother’s Role in the Gothic Landscape of 28 Days Later” makes the same observation when he notes that:
“Role playing becomes the subject of the quest to locate this group of soldiers (another collective entity chiefly based on the notion of diffusing the individual into the collective) as we witness a scene in which Frank must change a tyre on his car as zombies approach, playing the role of father (both in terms of the repairs made to the car and the protection those repairs afford) and to a scene in which Selena makes them stop the car to go ‘shopping’ by looting a deserted grocery store (again, fulfilling the role of mother). This shopping scene is the first one in which we see people smile and laugh in the film as a collective begins to form among the four into a ‘family-like’ organisation.” (39)
Traditional gender roles are emphasized throughout this scene, as well. When Frank interrupts Jim in his selection of scotch, Boyle emphasizes the caricature of the male as an alcoholic, setting the stage for the patriarchal continuation of gender within the filmic narrative. In subsequent scenes, this is further emphasized, especially when they are “captured” by machismo military men intent on making Selena and Hannah their sex slaves.
Sound The sound within this scene also emphasizes the recreation of the survivor family in lieu of the nuclear, biological one. The family atmosphere here is fostered by a soundtrack that echoes innocence and domestic bliss. In contrast to scenes wherein zombies are pursuing the survivors, where the sound reverts to the main theme of the film, the musical score here is a melodious blend of rock and pop, intertwined by the rolling of the survivors’ grocery carts and Frank’s child-like toying with them. Echoing the domestic scene alluded to in the image, the sound coming from the character themselves exemplify the familial nature of their escapade. As Frank is instructing Jim regarding the intricacies of a bottle of scotch, child-like laughter from Hannah and Selena emanate in the background, and Jim proceeds to investigate. The soundtrack here allows for an enjoyable melodious interpretation of the usual grocery store music, and the survivors’ enjoyment is echoed until the next scene, where they take a picnic in the English countryside.
Movement
The division of the nuclear family and the forging of new familial relationships among the survivors are further emphasized by the movement of the images within the frame. In one key image, the shopping carts that the survivors use to obtain their loot are seen exiting their aisles in quick succession, suggesting a choreographed artificiality that is absent in scenes where zombies linger within the frame. Moreover, this artificiality also emphasizes Boyle’s creative use of the mobile frame to encapsulate the domestic bliss that the survivors have experienced within the grocery store.
In this particular scene of 28 Days Later, the forging of new familial bonds and relationships are emphasized by Danny Boyle through image, sound, and movement. Within the filmic world, the nuclear family has been dismantled, and life as we know it has changed irreparably. However, one can find solace in the universal goal of survival, and Jim, Selena, Frank, and Hannah are here allowed to forge a new familial bond within the grocery store. By contrasting the image of domestic bliss before the outbreak and after it, Boyle thus proceeds to comment on the flexibility of family in the face of adversity, and the necessity for smooth interpersonal relationships in times of crisis and calamity.
Children of Men
In Alfonso Cuaron’s science fiction dystopian film, it is not a virus that is slowly killing off the human population. Rather, infertility permeates Great Britain and has brought to globe to its chaotic knees. Unlike 28 Days Later, Children of Men does not provide a wholly optimistic view about human familial relationships. Instead, it narrates the family as being broken down by the necessities of politics and social struggle. At the heart of issue here is Kee, the first known pregnancy in decades. As a mother, she is subjected to socio-political influences that are admittedly necessary for any struggle for freedom and liberation. However, Cuaron paints a critical picture of this process in one crucial scene, at the ____th mark where the Fishes consult with Kee regarding the fate of her baby and of her pregnancy.
Image
Kee’s pregnant body is at the center of this scene, where the Fishes plan on her pregnancy and her birth. Even if it is her body, her pregnancy and her body are not her own. As Jennifer Skinnon notes:
“Children of Men articulates an abstract form of surrogacy as Kee, a “foogie” or illegal immigrant carries life within that will offer redemption for the world. The first pregnant woman the world has seen in eighteen years, Kee becomes subject to various factions that would like to use her body, and baby−to−be, for political purposes. As such, the developing fetus she carries and indeed, her pregnancy and body are not her own” (66).
Kee is at the center of the conference between the Fishes, and she is treated as the center of the discussion and of their political agendas (Sparling 160). The familial atmosphere is emphasized here since the conference takes place in a conventional domestic scene – the dining table, complete with a bowl of apples.
As a result of this scene’s imagery, reproduction is taken to be central to the image of Children of Men. Much more than viral outbreaks in 28 Days Later, the incapacity for reproduction is emphasized as a more potent weapon for human extinction, and Cuaron lays emphasis on the critical importance of this biological phenomenon in the realm of the film. Reproduction, as a purely biological phenomenon, is entirely devoid of its sociopolitical context, and the futility of the Fishes’ struggle is emphasized in Kee’s significance as the central character.
Sound
The sound here is critical as it emphasizes the community that surrounds Kee. Before the conference, the domestic table is also emphasized through the presence of the television in the room, suggesting that the room was formerly used as a home. Moreover, collective action is also emphasized through the murmurs and the side comments from the other Fishes, echoing familial conferences that are all-too familiar to the ordinary viewer.
Movement
The movement of the camera here is instructive, as it stays relatively stable during the whole scene. The camera also slowly zooms out from the first shot to include the whole community of the Fishes. The camera also slowly lingers on the different individuals that are involved in the discussion. As Sparling notes:
“Here the visual rhetoric of the camp that Cuarón constructs suggests a merging of the story with the mise- en- scène and highlights Kee’s exceptional treatment in spite of her motherhood and because of her child, whom others would like to claim as a symbol” (162).
Conclusion
In both Children of Men and 28 Days Later, the family is rendered obsolete and the individuals at the heart of the conflict are forced to renegotiate their positions within the filmic narrative. In both films, the family is broken down and rendered helpless. As a result, the individuals are forced to promote new familial bonds, as in 28 Days Later, or appropriate the family to a wider sociopolitical stance. 28 Days Later also explores themes of gender roles, where the new familial structure is centered upon the male, while in Children of Men, the importance of reproduction in light of sociopolitical issues is also emphasized.
Works Cited
Martin, Karl E. “The Failure of a Pseudo-Christian Community in a Nation-State in Crisis: 28 Days Later” Journal of Religion and Film 18.2 (October 2014). Print.
Saunders, Robert A. “Undead Spaces: Fear, Globalisation, and the Popular Geopolitics of Zombiism” Geopolitics 17 (2012): 80-104. Print.
Skinnon, Jennifer. “Redemptive Motherhood and a Discourse of Fear in Contemporary Apocalyptic Film” The Americanist 26 (2012) Print.
Sparling, Nicole E. “Without a Conceivable Future: Figuring the Mother in Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies 35.1 (2014): 160-180. Print.
