For those who haven’t yet seen the official trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, I feel compelled to post it here, since I can’t seem to stop watching it. McCarthy’s dark, lyrical novels continuously astound me with their ability to tap directly into some sort of primal, animalistic sense of fear and dread, and The Road may be his most disturbing work to date: a stunning portrait of the human condition brutalized and alienated beyond comprehension.
In the wake of an unspecified disaster which has destroyed all of civilization, the story follows a father and son on their journey through a radically altered post-apocalyptic landscape that frankly makes Mad Max look about as foreboding as Cannonball Run II. The novel explores the deepest philosophical and psychological ramifications of the end of civilization, of what is truly lost when survival demands a constant redefinition of what it means to be human, and this trailer certainly seems to capture the harrowing bleakness of McCarthy’s vision. Director John Hillcoat’s previous feature, The Proposition (penned by frequent collaborator Nick Cave) proves he’s no stranger to the darker aspects of the human psyche, and the cast is simply phenomenal: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall receive top billing, while Deadwood fans will appreciate the appearance of the excellent Garret Dillahunt and Molly Parker, as well.
The Road opens on October 16 (so start stockpiling your unicorn chasers now. Something tells me we’re going to need them).
