The Road to an Amazing Story (Media Blog Post #4)

When it comes to depressing, end-of-the-world type movies and books, there are a million of them. The end of time is usually caused by some strange natural disaster, alien attack, or perhaps nuclear weapons. Usually, the story is all the same, the action sequences are fake and predictable, and the end of the world doesn't quite look like what I would have predicted. Most Hollywood movies make the end of the Earth look hokey and lame, and so I was on a mission to find some sort of media that would make me feel like I was actually experiencing the tragedy and devestation of the world ending. This is about the time I watched The Road.

Cannibal packs from The Road, courtesy of screenrant.com

I was aware that The Road was a very well-known book at the time by Cormac McCarthy, but I really was interested in the film so I could not resist watching before reading.

I knew the film was supposed to be dark and depressing, but I did not realize just how dark and depressing. The plot is simple: a man and his son are alive during a post-apocalyptic stage of Earth, and they are just trying to survive. They are freezing and they are simply trying to find a way to get to the southern part of the United States just to stay alive. All the while, they struggle with a lack of food, water, and an abundance of cannibal packs that hunt down other humans. There is nothing uplifting about this story; it is bleak, dark, and hopeless.

A photo of the Father and Son from The Road, courtesy of oregonlive.com

Though many movie-goers may be upset to find that there really is no happy ending or end to the tragedy, I kind of love that it is that way. When I picture the end of the world, I picture people scavanging for food. I see everyone fending for themselves and creating fake destinations just to keep themselves occupied. I picture chaos. Though this is not the perfect Hollywood ending to a magical story of overcoming adversity, The Road seems very close to what I actually believe would happen. For that, I am happy that this movie decided to go out on a limb and change the pace of regular end-of-the-world type dramas.

One of the reasons I find this movie so effective is the slow pacing and the monotonous tone of the narrator. The voice of the father never really changes tone throughout the entirety of the story as he is narrating their days, and the majority of the film is the father and the son roaming around, trying to find a place to sleep or food to eat. Because the movie is generally slow, the tiny moments of happiness or terror are amplified simply because they are so unexpected. The scene with the humans trapped in the basement is extremely terrifiying and disturbing, for it shows the lowest points of humanity. On the other hand, the scene where they find cans of canned peaches that are still edible along with a nice place to sleep is heartwarming.

Movie Trailer for The Road

I am currently reading Cormac McCarthy's novel, and so far, I must say, this film has been extremely loyal to the book. I feel a dark atmosphere in the book that I felt in the movie, and knowing myself, I will probably like the book even more than the movie once I finish. It is definitely an interesting take on a fairly unoriginal plotline, and I am glad that this novel-to-film story is treated with much respect all across different forms of media.