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Do all roads lead to God?
Published 21 April 2010
The film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cormac McCarthy novel The Road is a worthy addition to the growing list. Interest in McCarthy grew significantly after his novel No Country for Old Men was adapted for the screen and won the Best Motion Picture Oscar in 2007.
The film has Australian connections, with director John Hillcoat, a well-known artist in music directing circles. Hillcoat's previous film was the 2005 Australian outback western, The Proposition starring Guy Pearce. Guy Pearce has a small, but pivotal role in The Road, and the writer of The Proposition, singer and composer Nick Cave co-wrote the music for The Road.
The two main characters, ‘The father'- played by Viggo Mortensen (most well-known as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), and ‘the boy' - played by Australian Kodi Smit-McPhee are literally on the road, hopefully heading for a better world on the coast. The context is post-apocalypse, though we never learn what caused the destruction. The ground has been scorched, dust and ashes appear over everything, and human beings have mostly become barbaric savages, with little pretence to conventional morals and manners. People scrounge for clothing to keep warm, and sleep where they crash from exhaustion. Death comes cheap, and money cannot buy your life. Gold, silver, jewels - who can eat these? There is no lasting treasure here. For a generation raised on TV images of 9/11 , the Asian Tsunami, Bushfire disasters, Hurricane Katrina, and most recently Haiti and Chile earthquakes, there will be ready identification, but the apocalyptic landscape Hillcoat has created will also remain in your mind simply because it has such a striking absence of colour.
While at one time the boy gives thanks to the people for food they have found, there is no waiting for grace until all are served-the motif for most people is eat or be eaten. One bible reference appears graffitilike near the start of the film (Jeremiah 19: 6), highlighting the slaughter that has taken place. The idea for this came from Hillcoat's experience in looking around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where biblical graffiti had been painted on homes and buildings.
Where is God in this world? Certainly Cormac McCarthy had a view on this and is reported to have said that the film adaptation needed some more of the God references. I found the film to highlight more of a questioning of God, or perhaps even paying a bit of ‘lip service' at times,
and I wondered whether this catered more to the secular outlook, for a society which believes God was never really involved? There are touches of common humanity though, and I often thought the role of the Good Samaritan was never far away from consideration.
The boy is the one who wants to help others on the road, and even offer more than seems reasonable given the circumstances. He is mostly untainted by the evils that humans have succumbed to, and wants him and his father to be seen as ‘the good guys'. His father is caught between offering help, and maintaining the righteousness of his mission, which is to keep his son safe and alive. If others must die so his son can eat, then that is simply how it is. The father says at one point "All I know is the child is my warrant and if he is not the word of God, then God never spoke." Later when reflecting he says "If I were God, I would have made the world just so and no different. And so I have you... I have you." Interestingly, one person they meet is named Eli, and the discussion they have around the campfire certainly promotes the idea of ‘the boy' being special or called, perhaps like Samuel.
The treasure promoted in this film is essentially an affirmation of humanity, and the occasional display of goodness. I found the film version firmly focused on the father and his love for his son. The film emphasised this more than the subtleness of the novel, highlighting the common theme of the sacrificial parent - going the extra mile for your child to ensure their survival.
There is clearly a personal element as well for McCarthy who was born in 1933. The Road is dedicated to his son, John Francis McCarthy from his third marriage, who is a similar age to the character ‘the boy'. I wondered if the film also reflected McCarthy becoming an older man, re-considering his role in life, especially thinking about the values he should pass onto his young son. One dominant theme for the father is need to have a fire burning within and to pass on the fire, again an aspect which people have linked to parts of Jeremiah. The Road production company hired a Christian PR firm to liaise with churches and Christian groups and promote the film in the USA. After the success of The Passion of the Christ, Hollywood knows targeted church promotion is a key road to making even more money. Clearly many critics see strong connections and ideas, and while I agree there are some striking links, connections can also be made with humanist philosophy, perhaps illustrating more the concept that in Hollywood it is better to appear to be all things to all people. In any case, this film will certainly challenge you, some images will remain with you long after the film, and it could also provide an opportunity to discuss questions about love and life, parenthood, and yes faith.
Peter Bentley
Rated MA (violence, and strong themes, occasional coarse language)
Peter Bentley is the executive consultant for ACC.
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