I have been a fan of John Hillcoat for a while now. I think The Proposition is a wonderful modern take on the western genre. The Road, 2009, explored the idea of a stand off. There are long tense moments through out the film that rase the tension felt by the viewer. I was on the edge of my seat through out the film. I also really enjoyed the Mies-En-Scene of the movie. It was very much about the awe-inspireing scale of nature compared to the smallness of man. Another great thing that Hillcoat with the film was build investment in his characters through the use of flash back. The flash back sequences are very much slaps to the face of the viewer. Often pulling you from the grey "present" their vibrant "past." I really enjoyed this movie, it is a candid depiction of what life in a post apocalyptic waste land would be like. This is done a lot with zombie movies and I would almost say that it is a zombie movie because of the cannibalistic humans roaming the country side. They are gaunt and willing to eat most anything only difference between these "humans" and zombies is that Hillcoat's red necks use guns. The Road also looked into the realistic aspects of being a survivor, dealing with low ammunition, food, and no allies to confide in.

I have heard talk about "The Road" a couple of times over this last week. My brother was just mentioning it in the car, on the way up here. Uncannily, when we were shooting the indoor scenes at Angelique's place, she had a copy of the book, by Cormack McCarthy, that the movie is based on. I didn't realize the movie was two years old because I hadn't heard of it, or at least I didn't pay attention, until a week ago. When I got bored on set, I got to read The Road; I only got to page 20, though.
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