After hearing a recent debate on the radio as to whether "Road to perdition" deserved to be in the Top 10 Movies of the Decade (of the last decade, that is), I actively looked for it and I was fortunate enough to find that it has just been released in Blu-ray.
I'm not sure if it's one of the best 10 movies of the decade, but it's an AWESOME one...and it has left a mark in me. This must be one of the most beautiful movies made in a very long time and, although the rhythm and the story will not make history, the photography (or as it's called, cinematography) is astonishingly good. Yeah...I know it won the Oscars for it...but I didn't know it when I saw it (it got nominated to another 5 categories). In fact, I knew almost nothing about it other than somebody in the radio thought it deserved attention.
The film was directed by Sam Mendes in 2002, director of the renowed "American Beauty" and more recently "Revolutionary road". The story in "Road to perdition" is simple enough: revenge, Irish "mafia" (I'm sure it has its own name), father & son...and the pace is set so that you can enjoy every single frame of the movie, designed to make you enjoy it as much visually as intellectually.
My favourite scene: of course, the shooting in the rain with just faded music in the background and the closing statement by John Rooney (Paul Newman): "I'm glad it's you". I've read afterwards that the movie in general, and this scene in particular, resembles comic-like films like "Sin City"...ok...whatever! It's brilliant!!
There's another wonderful scene when Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) returns after the shooting above; his son is waiting in the bedroom and he enters the main door of the house, battered, destroyed, tired...Unbelievably beautiful!!
And one last word for the evil of all evils: Harlen Maguire (Jude Law). This actor has always left me a bit cold, but in "Road to perdition" he IS really evil. His job, in his own words: "I shoot dead people. Dead bodies that is. I don't shoot them"...
So, if you have not seen it yet, DON'T WAIT!!
