"You think I come from another world, don't you?"
In the years following an unspecified apocalyptic event a
man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) spend life on the road,
constantly moving south in search of food and shelter and hoping to avoid bands
of hungry cannibals.
I first saw this film in the cinema a couple of years ago
and was blown away by its bleakness and beauty. I’ve mentioned before how much
I love the look of decaying beauty and there are few films that show that so
much as this. The screen is filled with various shades of grey and the sun
never shines. The backdrop to the family’s struggle is filled with decrepit
landscapes ruined by an unknown catastrophic event. These scenes are further heightened
by flash backs to before the event in which Mortensen and his wife Charlize
Theron are seen to be enjoying life in a colourful and vibrant world. Other
flashbacks show life in the years after the apocalypse during which Theron is
pregnant and subsequently where she struggles to deal with her harsh new
surroundings.
