The Road

 

The Road (2009) is based on Cormack McCarthy’s novel, a book I may not have read, but a film believed to accurately capture the books atmosphere.

The Road conveys a miserable post- apocalyptic setting, miserable in the sense of its unpleasantness, where every living plant and animal has been killed resulting in humans living in conditions of scavenging and cannibalism. Reminding his son that they are the ‘good guys’ because they don’t eat people, the main characters known simply as ‘man’ (Viggo Mortensen) and ‘boy’ (Kodi-Smit McPhee) travel a treacherous journey in hope of going in a southward direction (believed to be warmer).  The film has an underlining fear of strangers generally through the good, fearing the bad. In one particular scene you can witness a quasi horror scenario when Mortensen discovers a bolted trapdoor, a’ la Evil Dead, revealing the ‘bad guys’ to have imprisoned almost zombie-like survivors for their cannibalistic ways.

While the Road feels almost too grim there are moments that become hopeful, or at least to be enjoyed for a short time, the tender moment when they stumble across a drink machine and score a soft drink. This moment is shared with particular camera focus on the bright red soft drink breaking up its consistent use of black and grey tones. Luck also comes their way when they discover a basement filled with food, where they indulge and board for a couple of nights.

Whenever, there is not an obvious bad guy around, I found I had started to observe Mortensen’s character, whose strong motivations of looking after the boy over time starts to reflect selfishness. With some debatable occurrences of refusing to spare the ‘old man’ (Robert Duvall) some food (a good guy) and demoralising a thief, this perhaps is a good time to question who the good guy really is. This scene is nicely contrasted with the boy’s optimism, which too has changed over time, initially he appeared naive and timid but now he becomes the moral voice of the journey. Not only does Mortensen’s strength gradually becoming weaker, but his character too, we now focus on the boy.

 The Road was a miserable journey, and when I say miserable I mean sad. But what I loved about the film, apart from the brilliant connection between Mortensen and McPhee, was its beautiful still-like shots that felt like old photographs, or perhaps even like distant memories of the boy and the man.

This type of reflection is made possible by the film’s ambiguity, towards morals and even the events that led to their situation, which is never explained and doesn’t need to be. Making it not only more interesting to watch but, as cliché as it may be, added different perspectives to how I chose to view its ending which stayed in my mind long after the film had finished. The Road was a heartfelt journey both haunting and beautiful which illustrated to me a clear narrative with no conventional outcome.