Set in the near future, The Road concerns a wholly righteous and doting father, played aptly by Viggo Mortensen, caring for his young son after a worldwide cataclysm which has left buildings standing – albeit without electricity or any social services – but has laid waste all animals and crops, leaving every person to fend for himself.Partially told in flashback sequences where Mortensen and his wife (Charlize Theron) are leading an idyllic farming life before the catastrophe – which is only alluded to but never seen in full or explained – The Road is equal parts love story, travelogue, and tense drama as the abandoned father and son try to reach the ocean in hopes of a better life.
Parallels in Recent Films
Despite the downbeat nature of The Proposition, one can see The Road as an ultimately positive story about the finding the essence of humanity in an unwinnable situation.“Cormac said that The Road is about human goodness,” director John Hillcoat noted.“There is a real love story [in The Road] as in [his Australian Western] The Proposition between the captain and the wife.It’s the loss of things we take for granted: the relationships in our lives and the gift of being able to eat and enjoy the weather.How rare and special that really is – in the greater context.This is a very special love story between a father and son – the crux of the story.”
Unlike other post-apocalyptic tales, including I Am Legend and The Road Warrior, Hillcoat’s film is far from an action-adventure story and is more metaphoric for many modern issues.“It was really the reality of the book: having all of your possessions in a shopping trolley conjured images of the homeless in every city,” he said.“That made it stand apart from the normal apocalyptic genre.It wasn’t about the spectacle – it was about survival.It felt weirdly familiar, like we had already glimpsed it because our references were apocalyptic mini-events such as Mt. St. Helens, the Twin Towers, Hiroshima, Katrina or wherever.It’s not on a global scale but may as well be if you are in the middle of it.”
Shooting Practical Locations
Spanning 55 shootings days, somewhat expanded due to the short days required when shooting with a minor, principal photography on The Road included at least 50 locations with some actual footage of recent disasters.“There were four states that we went into: Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Washington and Oregon,” said Hillcoat. “Many of [the locations] were in and around concentrated areas in Pittsburgh,” said Hillcoat.It gave it the look, and we were able to do that because of the simplicity of the story.There was actual footage from after Katrina hit.We just replaced the sky because we couldn’t have the sun.The mass of smoke billowing up in the background is the actual real footage of 9/11 of the smoke tower visible from space.We just kept referencing the photos of the aftermaths of these events and went to these locations.It also added poignancy to the crew who were local – it gave it a whole other level.”
With the film in the can and finally debuting for audiences this fall, Hillcoat feels a responsibility to the material and author which have each gone on to create a wide impact in the time since the director became attached to the project.“I had no idea the book was going to have the impact that it did,” he said. “It hit me when I first read it.There were certain people like Nick Cave [Hillcoat’s collaborator on The Proposition] who didn’t want to go near it and take that risk of entering the world of Cormac McCarthy.As time went on, that pressure kept going.Once that started, I focused on the task at hand.Cormac was hugely helpful pointing out the obvious as to what a different medium the two are.He was very encouraging.He loved the results.”
Reflecting on The Road, Hillcoat wished that his film affects audiences the same manner in which the book affected him.“It hopefully will make you look at your own relationships and value what we take for granted,”he described.“It’s looking at ourselves and our own relationships and what makes us human at times of duress.It’s very timely in that regard.I’ve always loved to go on journeys with films and get transported into other worlds, and think about it for days to come.I hope that it has a lingering effect on people the way the book has.”
Scott Essman - Scott Essman (born 1966) is an American writer, who has been writing and producing projects about motion picture craftsmanship and ...
