Now where was I?? Ah yes... "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen and Directed by the almost unheard of John Hillcoat. You might know Viggo from "The Lord of The Rings" Trilogy and more recently "A History of Violence " or "Eastern Promises" (both of which would link us nicely back to Jude Law via director David Cronenberg)
As I suspected, it is a dark and brooding movie following "The Man" and "The Boy" as they travel south across what appears to be America towards the coast. En route they meet various marauding gangs, cannibals and the occasional nice person too. Some of the back story (how did we get here?) is told through flashbacks and we learn about the boys mother and what became of her. I'm guessing that McCarthy wrote the characters in Title only form and without referring to their relationships in detail to further enhance the unsettled feeling you get from a post-apocalyptic setting. You never feel like you're fully engaged with them but at the same time empathy levels with them are high and I found myself constantly wondering how I would feel in a given situation, or what would I do ? Clearly this is pushing the right psychological buttons and on that level it works.
While it's a story full of despair and sadness, it somehow manages to leave you uplifted. There is hope in the darkest places. I've not read any Charles McCarthy novels, but of the 10 he's written (1965-2006), 5 have made it into film or TV adaptations, and of course I'm already a fan of "No country for Old Men" because of the Coen Brother's connection and my Lebowski obsession. If nothing else, The Road has inspired me to go and pick up at least one and see what they're like.
In other news.... Had a game of golf last night with Stan, Bri and Rodders. Admittedly it was only 9 holes which took us from 6pm through to about 8 but it was useful in getting my swing working again bearing in mind I'm going to need it on Saturday for the AGS event.
As I suspected, it is a dark and brooding movie following "The Man" and "The Boy" as they travel south across what appears to be America towards the coast. En route they meet various marauding gangs, cannibals and the occasional nice person too. Some of the back story (how did we get here?) is told through flashbacks and we learn about the boys mother and what became of her. I'm guessing that McCarthy wrote the characters in Title only form and without referring to their relationships in detail to further enhance the unsettled feeling you get from a post-apocalyptic setting. You never feel like you're fully engaged with them but at the same time empathy levels with them are high and I found myself constantly wondering how I would feel in a given situation, or what would I do ? Clearly this is pushing the right psychological buttons and on that level it works.
While it's a story full of despair and sadness, it somehow manages to leave you uplifted. There is hope in the darkest places. I've not read any Charles McCarthy novels, but of the 10 he's written (1965-2006), 5 have made it into film or TV adaptations, and of course I'm already a fan of "No country for Old Men" because of the Coen Brother's connection and my Lebowski obsession. If nothing else, The Road has inspired me to go and pick up at least one and see what they're like.
In other news.... Had a game of golf last night with Stan, Bri and Rodders. Admittedly it was only 9 holes which took us from 6pm through to about 8 but it was useful in getting my swing working again bearing in mind I'm going to need it on Saturday for the AGS event.
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