The Road
After watching the film "The Road," I understood that the creators are using this story to comment on human nature. For example, the film comments on how fear plays a role in people's decisions by putting the characters in a scary post-apocalyptic world. However, it is unclear what destroyed the world or Its condition. Also, none of the characters have traditional names. Instead, they are just named boy, man, thief, etcetera. This lack of details allows the audience to focus on the characters and their decision-making process.
The Father and the Son are the film's main characters; they constantly talk about a fire or "The fire inside." They refer to the fire when speaking about good and bad people. For example, the son asks the family if they have "the fire' right after asking them if they are good or bad people. The fire may represent "hope" and keeps people civilized. Or rather than keep people reasonable, the fire keeps people from making bad choices?
I think "the fire" symbolizes hope because, in this film, all the other decisions people make are made in fear. Whether that was a fear of starvation, death, or freezing, it was clear these fears made humans work against one another. For example, some people became cannibals not because they enjoyed eating each other but instead because they were afraid of starving.
The film's two main characters run into a man called "the Theif." The Theif attempts to steal from the man and boy, but the man takes away all of the Theif's items. Although it is apparent that taking the Theif's things that could kill him, the man sends him a message by saying 'I am going to leave you the way you were going to leave us." This scene allowed the author to comment on how stealing is wrong, no matter the circumstances.
The man and the boy represent the contrast between a parent and a child. I noticed that the son is not as afraid as the father is, and the father is constantly fearful for his son. For example, the son refers to this while the two are in a bunker they found by mentioning how the father consistently believes terrible things will happen. There is an emphasis on how the father still has concerns, although they found a bunker which was a positive. His pessimism demonstrates a contrast between living with hope, as the son does, vs. fear, as the father does.
Overall this was an enjoyable film. After watching this film, I appreciate how I began to reflect on my life and the others around me. I started questioning how my hope and fears have shaped my perception of the world. I enjoy films that leave this sort of afterthought with me.