The Road

I’ve never seen the Apocalypse quite like this before.

There have been many, many post-apocalyptic visions on the big screen and I’ve only now realised that most of them were, well… sexy. From the disaster porn of 2012 to Resident Evil: Apocalypse to Mad Max to The Omega Man to 28 Weeks Later – they all present a view of a dead earth that’s kind of attractive. You only have to see Will Smith speeding his sportscar through the empty streets of New York in I Am Legend to realise that the destruction of society will come with a few added bonuses. Add to that the fact that you don’t need to worry about littering and can watch films in the cinema alone and Armageddon’s looking pretty cool.

And then comes The Road, the most heart achingly desolate vision of future that I’ve ever seen. Humans are shown as utterly devoid of hope. It’s never made clear what went wrong, but the cataclysm is here to stay, and there’s nothing left but death and misery and… cannibalism. The man (Viggo Mortensen) and the boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are survivors. They are travelling to the coast (we’re not sure why), scavenging as best they can. All the animals and all the plants have died, there are periodic earthquakes and wildfires burn all night long. More importantly, humans are hunting humans.

The Road keeps the audience on edge for its entire running time. The film has a slow and measured pace but the ever-present threat of violence and death lurks around every corner. It’s no surprise really, when you consider that John Hillcoat’s previous film was the brutal colonial/western hybrid, The Proposition (which didn’t receive the success it deserved overseas, by the way). The Road takes that unforgiving vision of Australia’s past from The Proposition and magnifies it a hundredfold.

Viggo Mortensen puts in a passionate and desperate performance – this is truly a man whose spirit has been broken many times over – and Kodi Smit-McPhee (who wowed us in Romulus, My Father) is great as his son, a boy who’s had to grow up in this hellish world. There are supporting characters that come and go (the most famous of which are almost unrecognisable), but for the most part it’s up to these two fine actors to carry the entire film and they do it with consummate skill.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ score is good though not as strong as that of The Proposition, for which they were also responsible. The fact that The Road is such a desolate film perhaps demanded that the music never become too invasive, but I would have liked that little bit more. The special effects are fantastic – this beats any of the more glamorous and showy dystopic visions hands down. The cinematography is completely devoid of warm colours (excepting some flashbacks); instead we are shown just how many shades of grey one can create.

Part science fiction, part horror, all allegory, The Road is a stunning film that’s close to flawless. I can’t quite imagine it would encourage repeat viewings, but it’s an unforgettable film.