“The Road” (2009)
John Hillcoat’s end of the world Father and Son tale.
John Hillcoat’s end of the world Father and Son tale.
“Come to the cinema”, I implored the love of my life. “John Hillcoat has directed yet another feel good, cheery, happy film. Come on! It looks a laugh a minute!”
OK I didn’t say the second part but I certainly dragged the love of my life to the cinema for a rare outing from our very young son at the time, and boy did I mis-judge the tone of what I expected from The Road. I knew very little going into the cinema that late October afternoon of 2009 and when we emerged into the pitch black darkness of a now cold and dark October evening I was broken. It’s a bleakly difficult watch this film at the best of times, but there’s a scene that will remain undisclosed by me here with maybe ten minutes remaining that utterly destroys me. I lived that experience and I was still sobbing when the house lights were on full and the closing credits well and truly over!
I didn’t particularly care for Triple 9 in 2016 but, should you wish to put yourself through the mill of human despair, I heartily endorse this film as well as the three others not yet named but which form part of the much larger opus blog article on the early cinematic career of Australian born filmmaker John Hillcoat linked immediately below.
John Hillcoat — Life through his Lens
“Ghosts of the Civil Dead”, “The Proposition”, “The Road”, “Lawless” and “Triple 9”. 1988 through 2016. Spoiler free!medium.com
“The clock’s stopped at 1:17”.
Based on the world renowned novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy and with a screenplay from Joe Penhall, this was the first Hillcoat film not penned either by himself or Nick Cave. John Hillcoat also followed up one classic film with another and this audience splitting classic. Too maudlin for some, downright depressing for others, or an uplifting and heart warming tale of the human spirit? Pick your poison!
With a cast of only 16 credited roles and a further 10 uncredited roles, this near two hour film follows the journey of one man and his son across a post apocalypse United States of America. From a richly coloured beginning of an idyllic life, we are immediately transported to a monochrome, desaturated world of despair and destruction. With a melancholic narration from “Man” (Viggo Mortensen) it’s clearly established the earth is dying, and quickly, and with a continuing narration we see and hear the destruction unfold as earthquakes shake the earth, amid thunder claps and lightening strikes. Sheltering with his “Boy” (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and sleeping rough, the brightly coloured beginning has been completely taken over by a dank, dark and dirty environment. Existing only on scraps of food, both Man and Boy push a shopping trolley full of their remaining deeply personal belongings through a bleak, wide open and seemingly destroyed world.
The Director immediately deserves special praise for bringing both the book and the dying earth to the screen so magnificently. In fact, with so few characters in the film, this becomes another character in itself. De-forested woods, trees dying, vacant streets filled with destruction, it is a true marvel and an incredible feat of achievement from both John Hillcoat and his Director of Photography, Javier Aguirresarobe. Following the trek south to the coast where they hope they will find solace, escape and redemption, Man and Boy are often framed against town after town of bleak nothingness, desolate and empty spaces. There was very little if any CGI used throughout, enhancing the credit due to both Director and Director of Photography.
Throughout the film it’s also interesting to note how often a shot is used of only the hands and feet, or an extreme close up of the face, as if to reinforce the decay that surrounds them. One particular early scene encapsulates this, as with a reverse zoom shot the Director frames just the boy clutching his teddy bear, as he realises there are several pairs of feet dangling above him. Not in a gratuitous way, more matter of fact, with the Man later commenting on a similar scenario “that’s nothing you haven’t seen before”. One other interesting feature to note is again the juxtaposition between a vibrant colour (particularly red) and the grey, desaturated world they now live in. The red is often shown in a burning candle flame or raging fires and equally so when we often flashback to the past. Depending on the mood of the Man, the flashback is either in full colour (joyous mood) to grey and dark to match his present day mood. These flashbacks are often brief and while the man is sleeping/dreaming and is our main introduction to “Woman” (Charlize Theron).
With a small supporting and cameo cast “Old Man” (Robert Duvall), and “Veteran” (Guy Pearce) excellently standing out, the two central characters of Man and Boy are the film’s heartbeat. Kodi Smit-McPhee as Boy almost eclipses his veteran acting partner. It’s a still performance, deliberately and purposely so, as is the way he grows into the second and third acts to become the film’s moral centre. He was rightly lauded for his performance, which was so mature for an actor so young. His performance at times is heart breaking. Viggo Mortensen (another in my collection of favourite actors) is sublime here. He injects so much love and a burning protection for his son, of tremendous pride, yet it’s the simple touches and glances that seal the performance. With so many close ups of Mortensen in particular, he has to be on top of his game. He is, and his portrayal is simply stunning.
Backed by a beautiful musical score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, this film moves me every time. It plays with the emotions to dramatic effect, with juxtapositions (again) between love and despair, hope and hopelessness, good versus evil “you have to keep carrying the fire” to the bleakness of the difference between life and death. It’s a truly wonderful film, a well adapted story and a damn good reason to keep those you love close to you.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 100 blog articles (with 300+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
“Fences” (2016)
Denzel Washington directed Oscar winner.medium.com
“A Monster Calls” (2016)
“Too old to be a kid. Too young to be a man”.medium.com