The Road will be vegetarian-friendly. Well, more like anti-cannibal. As reported by Pop Eater, one of the most infamous scenes of Cormac McCarthy’s book, during which a roasted baby is revealed, has been edited out of the movie.
Director John Hillcoat originally insisted on including the visual. It wasn’t until the time came to film the scene that he grew adamantly opposed to using it. He said, “I ended up fighting, saying 'We have to get rid of this scene.’” Most would immediately draw the conclusion that the scene was far too gruesome. "We didn't film it like a big close-up, sizzling baby," Hillcoat explained. "We tried to do it in a restrained way."
For those of you who haven’t read the The Road, the scene is one of the book's most powerful. While I strongly recommend buying and reading the entire book, if you’d just like to glance at the part in question, just flip to page 198. It won’t be nearly as effective without being familiar with the characters, but it’ll give you an idea of why the issue is controversial.
Hillcoat approached the scene respectably. It’s good to hear he at least attempted to include it, but ultimately came to the conclusion that the image is far more potent when it’s spoken of but never seen. "In your head it had a different, real impact. When you see it (onscreen), it was so literal and too much." If it’s anything like the book, I’d imagine the film is very disturbing to begin with, so it’s beneficial to trim unnecessary gore.
The Road debuted in 111 theaters on Friday and took in about $2 million. Even though the theater number is low, it still puts the movie in 31 markets. No word on a wider release so if you’d like to see if The Road is playing near you, check out a location list at Rope Of Silicon.
