Tuesday, November 10, 2009

"The Road" - Telluride Film Festival award winner possible Oscar contender

 
Viggo Mortensen  and Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Road

The Road is a gripping drama film starring Viggo Mortensen and which is in wide release November 25th. I mention The Road because first, I saw it this Summer and, second, it was a Silver Medallion honoree at the 36th Telluride Film Festival, of which I've served on the screening group for more years than I can remember, third because now that it's screened at the Festival and is about to be shown to the public, I can write about it, and finally because I think it's Mortensen's best performance worthy of "Best Actor" nominee consideration.

(As a note, I don't know anyone connected with the making or distribution of the film.)

The Road is an epic tale of survival based on Cormac McCarthy's 2008 and concerns Viggo Mortensen's character and his son played by Kodi Smit-McPhee who don't really know who to trust among Charlize Theron, Guy Pierce, and the many people they encounter who are also trying to stay alive in a post-nuclear America. And its about how his son keeps Mortensen from becoming more "animal" than human in the process.

The Road is not a pretty or easy film to watch. It has a realistic look at what one experiences in the conditions presented in the film. But its how Mortensen plays in that "place" which makes his role so great to experience. He's always on edge and you're not sure what he's going to do next but feel for him in the process.

I saw a raw version of the film this summer and not the finished product at Telluride but the entire story was complete.

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