The good people of Pittsburgh may have much to be proud of in their city, but they’re probably not looking forward to the publicity they’ll be getting in the months leading up to The Road. The movie adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s bleak, end-of-the-world novel was shot largely in the Pennsylvania city, and director John Hillcoat and star Viggo Mortensen simply can’t stop talking about how dark and depressing the city was—in a good way!
“In winter, it can be very bleak. There are city blocks that are abandoned. The woods can be brutal,” Hillcoat told USA Today in explaining why he didn’t use CGI to enhanced Pittsburgh’s overall feeling of hopelessness. Mortensen added, “It's tangible, the misery and hopelessness and the bleakness.”
Wow. These guys might have some Pittsburgh Steelers on their tail in a bit, defending their river city, but in the meantime you can get a look at the miseries of Pittsburgh in the exclusive images USA Today has from the film. Viggo plays a man who, along with his son (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee) wanders through a post-apocalyptic American landscape that’s apparently as depressing as your average Pennsylvania November. Click the link for the photos here, one of which you see above. Hey, who’s up for a trip to Pittsburgh?!
