Thu, Mar 18 2010
|
Published November 25, 2009 07:19 pm - WEEKENDER COVER STORY for Nov. 27, 2009: One of the many shocks in “The Road,” the screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, comes when actor Viggo Mortensen pulls off his tattered, grimy clothing to luxuriate in a waterfall. Mortensen goes extra mile in ‘The Road’ By ROBERT W. BUTLER - Kansas City Star One of the many shocks in “The Road,” the screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, comes when actor Viggo Mortensen pulls off his tattered, grimy clothing to luxuriate in a waterfall.
The hunky star who played Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” movies now looks emaciated. His chest is sunken. His ribs seem ready to burst from beneath taut and shrunken skin. In a recent interview, Mortensen declined to specify how much weight he lost or how he did it. “Just doing my job,” he said. “It would have been so wrong to show up looking like I’d just had a nice lunch. But the physical stuff was only a means to an end. The cold, the wet, the hunger ... all that helped us to get to another place. An emotional place.” Fans of McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning novel have anticipated the arrival of John Hillcoat’s movie version (it opens Wednesday) with both hope and foreboding. After all, Hollywood has a long history of wussing out when the going gets tough. And this is a tough book. It’s about a nameless father and son wandering through an unending winter. Some unspecified disaster — nuclear war, meteorite strike, climate change — has left the sky perpetually overcast. All plants have died and with them wildlife. The man and boy will probably starve, providing they aren’t first done in by roving cannibal gangs. The novel is almost too painful to absorb. Making it bearable is McCarthy’s sparse, practically poetic prose and the story’s emotional core of paternal love and hope against all odds. Could Hollywood possibly take on material this grim without turning “The Road” into “The Road Warrior”? Terrified of the material, would the moviemakers glamorize and romanticize? Throw in a few big action scenes? A sneering villain? Maybe a love interest? Mortensen said he’d read most of McCarthy’s books but hadn’t gotten around to “The Road” when he was given Joe Penhall’s screenplay. “I read the script, was knocked out, and ran right out to pick up the novel. I wanted to know how faithful the script was to the book. It was very faithful, and it only became more faithful as we went into production and began paring things down. “When I saw the finished picture I found it was the most faithful screen adaptation of a novel I’ve ever seen — and that includes ’Lord of the Rings,”’ he said. “For the reader of this book, there’s no shortcut. There couldn’t be one for us, either. The emotional journey has to be real.” Mortensen said his pairing with young Kodi Smit-McPhee, who was only 10 when he was cast as the Boy, resulted in the most meaningful acting collaboration of his career. A father in real life, Mortensen found himself developing a protective paternalism toward his young co-star, with whom he shares practically every scene in the film. “It’s odd — the Man is desperately trying to keep the Boy alive, and the Boy’s presence is keeping the Man alive. The same thing happened on the set. 
More from the WEEKENDER / Entertainment section
‘Velveteen Rabbit’ hops on stage tonight ‘Julie and Julia’ cooks up a great plot |
Print this story
Post to del.icio.us
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
© 2009, Ashtabula Star Beacon
P.O. Box 2100, Ashtabula OH 44005-2100 (440) 998-2323, Send news tips and feedback 
|
Popular Business directory links - Ashtabula Apartments | Ashtabula Attorneys | Ashtabula Auto Dealers | Ashtabula Auto Parts | Ashtabula Auto Repair | Ashtabula Beauty Salons | Ashtabula Car Rental | Ashtabula Dentists | Ashtabula Doctors | Ashtabula Flowers | Ashtabula Hotels | Ashtabula Insurance | Ashtabula Loans | Ashtabula Mortgages | Ashtabula Movers | Ashtabula Pizza | Ashtabula Realtors | Ashtabula Restaurants | Ashtabula Storage | Ashtabula Tax Preparation | Ashtabula Travel | Ashtabula Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
