Author Topic: The Road  (Read 14583 times)

Dave Turner

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #10 on: April 29, 2009, 07:47:10 PM »
Welcome to to the forum Dave, and thank you for sharing all this with us.  I have one question which I would very much like to know the answer to.  What kind of movie is this, and is it true to the spirit of the book even if some of the details are different?  Is it a sort of action/adventure where the father and son avoid various perils?  A horror movie with an emphases on the atrocities?  Or is it more meditative and poetic like the novel was?   
It's definitely a mix of the latter two, with more emphasis on the poetry over the horror and atrocities.  There are graphic depictions of miserable human beings living like partially-amputated animals (just as there are in the book), but those moments are brief and serve the story.  It is certainly true to the spirit of the book in large measure while falling short in the ways I've described above.  The essential mood and tone of the book is in the movie.  :)

verkisto ratsel

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2009, 08:57:47 PM »
Thanks again for your thoughts Dave.
I'm really looking forward to this... as much as you can look forward to a movie about the end of the world. ;)

I reacted to this story on an emotional/spiritual level unlike any other book I have read. I'm fine with the movie being its own "thing" but I hope it does a justice to the spiritual/psychology heft of the book.

Last question- Based on its pedigree [and despite its bleak subject/tone], I've heard this described as Oscar bait. Does it have a chance??

Dave Turner

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2009, 12:21:34 PM »
Thanks again for your thoughts Dave.
I'm really looking forward to this... as much as you can look forward to a movie about the end of the world. ;)

I reacted to this story on an emotional/spiritual level unlike any other book I have read. I'm fine with the movie being its own "thing" but I hope it does a justice to the spiritual/psychology heft of the book.

Last question- Based on its pedigree [and despite its bleak subject/tone], I've heard this described as Oscar bait. Does it have a chance??

I'm not sure that it stands much of a chance at the Oscars.  There are a few moments of raw horror, like the Cannibal Mansion scene.  Spielberg won an Oscar in a movie festooned with viscera, but I'm not sure that The Road would leap that particular hurdle.  It's not sufficiently life-affirming for the Oscars, I'd say.

Will it make critics' lists?  I think so.  Oscars?  Maybe the Academy would throw a bone to Duvall as Supporting Actor or give it a more technical nod, like Cinematography.

Alan Smithee

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2009, 12:32:08 AM »
Did anybody post The Road trailer yet?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U_sNIlB7ak#ws
« Last Edit: May 16, 2009, 12:34:03 AM by jckinnick »

smirnoff

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2009, 08:46:20 AM »
Thanks for posting that.

The 'look' is a little richer than what I had envisioned while reading the book, but that's probably for the better.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #15 on: May 16, 2009, 09:22:53 AM »
So am I to believe that the final passage of the novel is not given the voice-over treatment? That's too bad because it's a beautifully written paragraph that ends the novel perfectly.

With fronds like these...

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #16 on: May 16, 2009, 04:29:38 PM »
Thanks for posting that.
The 'look' is a little richer than what I had envisioned while reading the book, but that's probably for the better.

Absolutely. The world in the book is utterly monochrome, like a sensory deprivation tank. No colour, sound, smell... which could make for a pretty awful watch!

So am I to believe that the final passage of the novel is not given the voice-over treatment? That's too bad because it's a beautifully written paragraph that ends the novel perfectly.
And violent agreement again. That last paragraph is beautiful and heart-breaking. And for me almost essential.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #17 on: November 26, 2009, 10:26:44 PM »
So am I to believe that the final passage of the novel is not given the voice-over treatment? That's too bad because it's a beautifully written paragraph that ends the novel perfectly.

Oh FLY, you always know you're going to be disappointed when you make these guesses, and you always are disappointed. At least you can take solace in the fact that you were correct, for what that's worth.

Brian Z

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Re: I saw a test screening of "The Road" last night [spoiler heavy]
« Reply #18 on: November 27, 2009, 11:24:25 AM »
Whoops, started a topic for this elsewhere. Anyways, I adored the film. Did a full review of it here.

« Last Edit: December 22, 2009, 01:51:54 PM by Matty Ballgame »