Directed by John Hillcoat, The Road is the third major film to be based on a Cormac McCarthy novel, following 2000's All The Pretty Horses and 2007's Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men. Only the fourth feature film from Australian director Hillcoat, the source transposes McCarthy's familiar barren landscapes from the American west to a post-apocalyptic America.
The exact nature of what has befallen Earth is never mentioned, and neither are the names of Mortensen's and Smit-McPhee's characters - they are simply referred to fleetingly as 'Papa' and 'The Boy'. Whilst such vagueness would often detract from the success of a narrative, the key to The Road is not the apocalypse, but the relationship between the two characters, the will to survive, and the need for hope.
Viggo Mortensen
Since his success in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen has eschewed the route to Hollywood super stardom in favour of smaller, more intimate and actor-centred films, including two pictures for David Cronenberg (A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises). The Road continues this predilection for more challenging work.
As 'The Man', Mortensen is given very little dialogue, but produces a wealth of emotion through the use of his body and the clever direction of Hillcoat, which sees the camera focused frequently on Mortensen's eyes: full of fear, sadness, desperation, but when in contact with The Boy, unyielding love.
Despite the bleakness, which borders on hopelessness, of their situation, the intimate moments between Man and Boy explain why Mortensen's character struggles on and cannot bear to end their lives. The happiness and excitement which bubbles out of him when he finds a can of coke to give his son produces an incredibly poignant moment which encapsulates the idea that it is the little things that matter in life.
Kodi Smit-McPhee
As The Boy, Kodi Smit-McPhee represents the innocence which, it is hoped, can survive the bleak times which The Road depicts. Frequently told by his father that they are 'the good guys', he struggles to cope with the increasingly desperate things his father is forced to do in order to prolong their survival. Despite witnessing The Man murder and increasingly lose sight of his morals as his and their condition worsens, The Boy maintains his sense of hope and belief in the righteous, forcing his father in to handing out precious food to several strangers they meet.
The fear of losing his father drives Smit-McPhee's character. Knowing that he will soon lose him, The Boy constantly refers to the after-life, clinging to the hope that he will be with 'Papa' and his mother when it happens. On several occasions, he suggests that they die, perhaps as it is the only situation he can think of in which they will definitely be together.
For his first major work, Smit-McPhee is heartbreaking, his ability to convey despair and dread growing as the film progresses and his worse fear becomes imminent. The innocence he portrays exemplifies the idea that decency and hope can be found even in the worst, most horrifying of situations.
John Hillcoat
Whilst The Road is primarily a story of two men, the flashbacks of Mortensen and his wife, played by Charlize Theron, partly explain the harrowing bleakness which overcomes his eyes at times. The counter-position of their warmly-lit happiness gives way to the dingy depression which sees her unable to take their situation any longer. The wife's decision to leave - to her inevitable death - displays a selfishness that The Man is almost pleadingly determined to prevent overcoming his son.
Hillcoat balances the over-arching bleakness of The Road with some moments of genuine warmth which slows the impending sense of threat, without diminishing its believability entirely by ignoring it. A scene in which the pair find a bunker, eat well, wash, and enjoy some comfort is full of joy, but with an underlying sense of melancholy, as it is clear it will not last.
With The Road, Hillcoat has created a deep, emotionally-filled journey, which successfully balances a sense of hopelessness with a desire to never give way completely to it. Mortensen engages as a real man, powered only by love for his son, who evokes great sympathy as he physically degenerates. The Boy's sensibilities and belief offer the idea that hope should never be abandoned, ultimately making The Road a life-affirming, if not emotionally-draining, piece of heavyweight filmmaking.
Karl Keely - Karl has been writing for several years now despite his youth, and has produced material for a variety of sources. His largest recent ...
