As a huge fan of Cormac McCarthy’s book, The Road is a film which I worried about. The book is a slow-paced thriller with only two characters who barely speak to other and I therefore struggled to envision an adaptation working. However I was proved extremely wrong, the film version of The Road takes the atmosphere of the book perfectly and creates a chilling, engrossing two hour film.
The story follows a father (Viggo Mortensen) and son who are walking south in a post-apocalyptic style world. It is never revealed what exactly happened; just that all the animals and wildlife where killed and only a few humans survived. As the two characters walk on the road it becomes clear that they are in a truly desperate situation; starving and only having each other for company they are afraid to approach any other humans for fear of cannabalism.
Every shot in the film is crafted perfectly and it has a truly astounding de-saturated look; some shots look almost as if they’re painted. The style only adds to the depressing nature of the film as it offers very little in the way of joy; even the ending is ambiguous as to whether he situation has really improved.
The film, like the book, is slowly paced with many shots of the characters walking, struggling or sleeping; however I found myself completely immersed in the world that it didn’t matter. There are also several moments of great tension and real fear for the characters; with one scene in particular being shocking. These scenes are only enhanced by the slow pacing as we truly care about the characters and their relationship.
My favourite thing about this film (it’s also my favourite thing about the book) is the unexplained nature of the apocalypse. I love that the audience is never told what happened and believe it adds a great deal to the intrigue of the film as you try to figure out if it was global warming, a science experiment or something supernatural? All you really know is the death the characters see around them and you absorb that.
The Road is a fantastic piece of cinema and one which I was surprised to find had an iMDB rating of just 7! My scores for the film come as follows:
Style – 5/5
Story – 5/5
Technical – 5/5
Enjoyment – 4/5
Giving the film a total of 19/20 which becomes 9/10.
2016 FILM-A-DAY CHALLENGE 