Road movie
From ArticleWorld
As the name suggests, a road movie is one where the action takes place during the course of a journey. While it would be possible for a journey to be taken by other modes of transport, the road movie generally deals with cars, buses or motorbikes as the chosen vehicle.
These films often involve a character realising who they truly are or some other major realisation which will change their life from that point on. Relationships are often forged, broken or both through the duration of the film and this can be in the form of a romance or friendship. These films have their roots in epic films which involved an adventurous journey but which has now evolved to the road movie we recognise today.
Structure
The typical road movie follows a simple structural process. They tend to be chronologically accurate, starting with information regarding the purpose of the journey and moving on to the travelling part soon afterwards.
At this point a travelling companion is often introduced, be it an existing acquaintance who accompanies the lead character or perhaps a hitchhiker. The film continues from this point before coming to an end in one of four typical ways.
- The reason for the journey can be completed, allowing the character to return home having no doubt come to a life changing realisation along the way.
- Alternatively, they could make a new life for themselves at their destination. #Thirdly, the character could continue to travel the roads, being a loner and never really finding their place in society. In such cases the last shot of the film tends to be a picture of the driver speeding off into the horizon, filmed from behind.
- The last option is for the character to realise that following their journey they can never return home and so they chose to end their lives.
While there are obviously other plot lines in existence, most road movies seem to follow a similar pattern to this.
Successes
Some of the most famous and successful road movies released follow the standard structure outlined above. These include Easy Rider and Thelma and Louise. However it is worth mentioning 2000s road movie, entitled Road Trip. While the purpose of the journey is to fulfil a quest, as is typical in the genre, it is not dealt with in the serious manner which many other road movies adopt. This film is a comedy and so stands out in the genre as a new and somewhat original twist on an existing theme.