The Road

 

Everybody has warned me not to watch this film. "The Road is the most depressing movie ever made!" they said. "It'll just get you down, Ben!" I originally decided to avoid it for that reason; there's already enough in this world to get me down without adding to it, but I changed my mind. I thought I'd give it a go and switch off if it got too melancholy, almost as a challenge. I was surprised; it is not depressing. If anything it is the opposite, inspiring and encouraging. This might not be obvious on the surface, if you look at the trailer or a synopsis. The two main characters are a nameless man and his son who are struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland following some global catastrophe that is never explained. Despite this, my guess is that it is some kind of hyper-volcanic event. There are many hints confirming this; for example, there are lots of earthquakes. Also you never see the sun except in the flashback scenes. Even in the middle of the day the lighting is dull and the sky is heavily overcast; this indicates that the atmosphere is full of volcanic particulates. All the plants and trees are dying as a result of the loss of sunlight and the low temperatures. This has happened before in earth's past and has caused mass extinctions. The man's wife, the boy's mother, has committed suicide like most people. They are heading south, presumably to find warmer weather, carrying all their belongings in a shopping trolley. The situation has caused most people to descend into barbarism, resorting to cannibalism; and the man and the boy have to hide and flee in case they are hunted for food. Despite this, they cling on to their humanity, "holding the fire inside" as they call it. The boy in particular symbolizes that integrity and hope for the future. There are occasions in the story where the man, played by Viggo Mortensen, tries to act in a "dog-eat-dog, man!" way and the boy persuades him into being compassionate instead. For example, they meet an old blind and crippled man, played by Robert Duval, and the son convinces his father to take care of him for a while and give him some of their scarce food. The boy doesn't always succeed. In another scene they have all their belongings stolen, and when they catch the thief the man forces him to strip naked, ensuring his swift demise in the icy new climate. The film even ends almost happily. The Road is very anti-nihilistic. Even in the most appalling conditions, we don't have to behave like monsters. It is far less miserable than many other apocalyptic movies, like Threads which is a wallowing self-indulgent orgy of nihilism, see: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2008/01/threads.html. By the end of the film I actually felt quite uplifted. This proves that stories can often have double meanings and even the darkest superficial scenario can be used to shine some light.
See here for more information: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2020/02/humiliation-reply-to-stefan-molyneux.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2012/12/prepper-posers.html.