I remember the first time that I saw this movie, it had seemed very strange. Weird, and not necessarily in a good way.
If memory serves correctly, then the commercials made it look almost as if it were a horror movie. It isn't. Not really, anyway.
What it is, however, is a strange movie. Also, it is one of the grimmest and most depressing movies that I have seen.
Now, I have heard others suggest other things about the movie. One guy, who loves action/adventure, felt that this movie was boring, that nothing happens. I certainly don't agree with that although, strangely enough, I understand why he said it. That might sound contradictory, so perhaps an explanation is in order.
This is not a movie with high drama and the intense music that accompanies it. In fact, it tends to focus on more subtle things by way of illustrating examples. Viggo Mortensen's character is preoccupied not only with survival and finding the means to get through the day to day, but also with a fear bordering on paranoia about just how dangerous and untrustworthy other people are. He is trying to be a good father who prepares his son (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee) as well as he can under difficult circumstances, yet eventually, the viewer gets the sense that he systematically goes too far. That maybe, he even is a bit unstable.
The circumstances of the movie remain mysterious throughout. We easily understand that it is a colder world than the one that we live in, as the urgency with which the man tries to travel further south in order to avoid "another winter" like the last one that they experienced is evidence of. In fact, we see one of his memories, when his wife (or partner, and mother of the son), essentially gives up on life and decides to in effect kill herself by stepping outside and walking off into the night without adequate clothing. It is implied that this is, in fact, a death sentence, and that she has just taken her own life.
Yet, trees sometimes seemingly spontaneously burst into flames, and there is no explanation or clarifying point as to why this is the case. It is a mysterious, and very uninviting, world that we are witness to. We can understand why the mom wants to commit suicide.
The man is haunted by many memories from his past. He obviously is old enough to remember better times, yet he seems almost to focus exclusively on the grimmer aspects, of the times after the world changed for the worse. His attitude perhaps matches the ugliness and grimness of the world, thus.
**Spoiler Alert***
We watch as the man leads his son towards the beach, the ocean. He feels that this is a huge task, and that somehow, the ocean should prove easier and safer. The man is obsessed with the notion that someone is following him, but it seems like something strictly in his imagination.
Yet, it is when they finally reach the ocean that they actually fall under attack. The man is struck by a bow, and although he manages through a mixture of better ammo and apparently smarter instincts, to get the better of his surprise opponents, the wound limits him too much. he grows sicker and sicker, until, ultimately, it proves fatal.
The boy seems all alone in the world - at least until we see a man approach him on the beach. They talk, the boy keeping his gun initially pointed squarely at this new seeming intruder. But as it turns out, the man is with a woman and a couple of other kids, and they essentially offer the boy the chance to live a better life. Ironically, it took the death of the boy's father for them to finally get their opportunity to approach, and offer something better, presumably.
This movie is grim, grim grim! If you are in the mood to be, or to get, depressed (and really, who isn't?), then this is the movie for you. If, by some chance, you are in the mood for lighthearted stuff, then you probably want to skip this one for another time. But it is a fascinating movie, and it is hard not to find yourself watching with rapt attention.
I recommend this movie but, again, if you get depressed, don't say I didn't warn you!
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