The Road (2009)

We're more than the things we surround ourselves with

By: JWBM

In essence, our life can be broken down into a series of moments and stages. The situation now is just a state of time. It can define us, it can strengthen or weaken us; that, or it may even enlighten us, depending on what we're capable of, or how much power we have to persevere. The transitions from one stage into the next are the most challenging aspects we go through. One moment we have both hands free to kiss our loved ones, while at other times we have both hands behind our back and a splinter in our eye to see fully ahead.

In everyday life we are surrounded by other people and opportunities. The sun rises and sets, we can get jobs, and go to the supermarkets on the way home. When something upsets that balance, we must battle our minds still stuck in the previous stage to move ahead. Now, imagine you're in the worst of the worst situation that anyone will ever experience. The World as we know it is slowly crumbling. You look outside and uncertainty for humanity is on the horizon. Who do you turn to? How do you put one worn and unstable foot in front of the other? There's no crutch out there that will fully balance out your next journey. But here we are to live out our next—or last—days.

Over the years, I've seen my fair share of post-apocalyptic films. Even hung around with buddies and talked about how neat the what-ifs would be. "Dawn of the Dead," for instance, made abandoned buildings, brain eaters, and broken dreams kinda cool. It was scary and intense at moments, but you were free, you could shoot off guns, and life was a strange, new adventure. Once the credits finished, you could go back to normal. "Mad Max" had the awesome rides, plus the outfits you could never get away with wearing—well, that is until things turn into a free-for-all. You could be a hero, or join a gang. Both equally cool.

"The Road," however struck me in a different way during and after. It's genuinely bleak, it's nearly hopeless, it's not something you want to happen, even in playful thoughts at the back of your mind. It plays out more in a, "Wow, so that's what it would really be like?" kinda way. You want to vigorously shake the filmmakers and original author by the shoulders and ask them why they took this genre to this extreme. The movie does have some other qualities to it—more grave and serious thoughts to ponder on versus the typical backbone of an entertaining experience.

The premise is simple: a man and his boy hit the roads. Their hazy plan is to head south to get away from the cold, search for food and shelter along the way, and carry a bullet or two just in case they encounter someone who's not one of the "good guys." Hard to tell these days. This takes place when shit has hit the fan, and then trucks with reenforcement shit have shown up to pile it on more. There's also crazed lunatics that are saying screw the fan and just throwing it everywhere. But, guess, what? Who cares anymore? Who's to stop them? It's the equivalent of taking your average family and making them a seasoned homeless person for life with shopping cart and all. The only people left are those that are willing to do just about anything to survive. Anyone who's comfort level, such as the my-food-is-too-cold crowd, did not make it. Anyone who hesitates or puts their guard down for even a few seconds, did not make it, or will not make it for long.

Where the film excels, is it does a great job at self-reflection of what you have and where you're going. It's not outright said, but I couldn't help but feel that way. It's an odd experience watching it unravel as you look around and have adequate shelter, food/water, and security. Take it all away and what's left to fight for? Most of the story is about as depressing as a once happy family dog on its last leg, that just gets worse and worse, and you watch with pity and helplessness as all of the good memories start to fade and are replaced with the present deterioration. The man—as he's plainly called—still reminds the boy, "We have to just keep carrying the fire... The fire inside you."

This is humanity at its darkest hour: from loneliness, depression, murder, suicide, to cannibalism. It's not for the faint of heart. Though sometimes it takes some ugliness to see and appreciate the light. "The Road" has a certain dark poetry to it: from the actors that breathe life into these beaten down characters to the point of seeing them as none other than—Mortensen, as the Man, replaces the dimple-chin charm with a bearded, broken man in tatters—to the cinematography, which expertly shows settings that were once full of people and purpose, but are now just a series of lifeless machinery and wasting away material things. As humans we're more than the things we surround ourselves with. Some of us give up, others take the easy route, but the film—as dark as it is—seems to inspire a sense of near impossible challenge that few other stories come close to.

Rating: 9/10

Directed by: John Hillcoat (The Proposition)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube