I recently watched ‘The Road’ starring Vigo Mortensen, however he was no way the star of the film, the young lad who plays his son, Kodi Smit-McPhee definitely was. The film tells the story of a man and his son heading south across America looking for sanctuary after a man made catastrophe, that is actually never explained, destroys mankind, all we are told is that there was a big bang and after that most of the human population were killed, however it couldn’t be nuclear as there are humans that survive, radiation doesn’t finish them off, yet all animals and plant life are destroyed also, fuck knows what it was, but it adds to the mystery.
Anyway after flashback sequences we see that the young lad was born into this nightmare, he knows no different, and his mother, Charlize Theron, didn’t have what it took to try and make it in this nightmare new world and took her own life while the boy was still very young. It’s no wonder she did, the film is painfully depressing, there is literally nothing left on earth apart from destroyed buildings and no decent food source, the “man” and his son are forced to keep moving across desolate areas of the country in a vain hope of finding something in the south, something, anything, I don’t believe he believes there is anything there, but what else is there? It’s a blind hope that at least keeps them moving, because if they stopped, that’s it, game over.
If you have played Fallout 3 you’ll feel right at home here, everything is destroyed, looted or burnt to the ground and everything is very, very grey, its a terrible glimpse into a future that you can appreciate could actually happen, that’s one of the sad things about this film, in current circumstances you feel that this is how it could all end, and its very depressing.
Although this is a depressing film, the bond between this man and his son also makes it one of the most gut wrenching, heart breaking yet heart warming films I’ve seen in recent years. The man carries two bullets in his gun, one for him and his son should situations get so dire he would rather take their lives than let them be raped and eaten, yes eaten, by the remnants of humanity who have now taken to cannibalism to survive.
You feel for both the characters in an immense way, the man will do anything to protect his son and how hard must it be to never be able to give his son any comfort, he can’t say “it’s going to be alright”, he can’t say “we’ll get there in the end”, the earth is slowly dieing, there is no hope, all these two unfortunates can do is keep moving and try to survive, for what though is the question.
It’s one of the most depressing films I’ve ever seen, but I am extremely glad I have, it also is one of the most powerful, a scene whereby the two are trapped upstairs in a house by cannibals ascending the stairs and the man is holding his last bullet to his boys head while the lad asks; “When will I see you again, how will I find you?” (after being brought up by his dad that one day he may have to take his own life, even detailed in the best way to put a bullet in his head), and the man is having to decide how long he can last before he pulls that trigger, before he ends his sons life, yet save him from the torture he would have endured. I haven’t been moved by a film like that in a long time.
Its fantastically acted, especially by the young lad, but is probably too depressing for this film to be remembered, people don’t like the hard truth, they like happy endings, this film is hard to watch but if you have any interest in movies that push the boring line that Hollywood has painfully drawn I implore you to watch this film, there is one reprieve scene whereby the pair find a storm shelter filled with canned food, they get a couple of nights in decent shelter and pig out on real food, you may find yourself cheering at this scene.
It’s not one for a fun Saturday night with popcorn, but for real film fans needs to be viewed.
