Cormac McCarthy

American author Cormac McCarthy is the man of the moment. Tipped in some quarters to win the Nobel prize for literature, McCarthy's talent has not escaped Hollywood either. Last year saw his novel No Country For Old Men work cinematic wonders for the Coens and next year promises more from the Viggo Mortensen fronted 'The Road', McCarthy's 2006 novel about a desolate, ash-strewn, post-apocalyptic America.

I've just finished reading The Road as well as McCarthy's most celebrated novel, Blood Meridian, so thought I'd pen a quick post to this man of the moment and some of the challenges that will arise from bringing his difficult novels to the big screen.

The post was mainly inspired by this:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/cormac_mccarthys_blood_meridian_cant_possibly_become_a_movie"

It's an article, which I agree with, about the difficulties that will be involved in bringing Blood Meridian to your local Odeon. Ridley Scott was linked to the project but, equally rightly, pointed out that the trouble with making Blood Meridian into a film is that it is unbelievably violent. Having just finished it, I can testify that Scott is not lying or exaggerating. Were it to be made, it would almost certainly be the most violent film ever made, at least by any mainstream filmmaker. And yet, IMDB reports, a version of Blood Meridian is in production.

Blood Meridian is a great book, a truly great book, totally unlike anything I've ever read. Violence is endemic to it, like it was to the world it depicts. Based on real events, the novel focuses on a time, at the beginning of the 1850's, when a rebel group of American soldiers, under the command of General Glanton, himself under the sway of the unbelievably abhorrant, amoral and fascinating Judge, head out to procure for themselves as many scalps of native American Indians as they can get, as the trade in them is thriving. If that sounds violent, even that gives no true picture of what actually goes on in this book (take a look at the quotes in the article I've hyperlinked above), it is honestly hard to see this passing any censorship test without losing the tone, the drive, the message, (all of) which make the book so powerful and unforgettable. I would almost dread seeing a cinematic version of Blood Meridian and yet feel compellingly drawn to the idea that I'd like someone with uber-talent to give it a go. We'll have to wait and see. But who would have the talent - and the physical presence - to play the role of the Judge, in Hollywood today, is beyond me. One blogger suggested Vincent D'Onofrio, and he - a hugely talented and underrated actor with great physical presence and menace (just think back to how unforgettable the toilet block scene in Full Metal Jacket is) - would be a great choice and would add another layer of potential interest to the idea of Blood Meridian the film.

McCarthy's is a rare talent. His worlds are always seemingly unbearably bloody and you would be forgiven for thinking that he has a very negative view of the human condition. Until you read The Road. In a way, The Road and Blood Meridian are perfect partners, the one demonstrating the worst, the other the best, of the human condition and they strike an absolute contrast between innocence and sin. I can't wait to see The Road though I remain hugely sceptical that any director will be able to reproduce its vast emotional landscape on screen. I wait to be corrected. As I do about Blood Meridian. Like the novel, a film version would have the potential of being one of the greatest ever made, were it done properly and the added pull of rewriting the Western myth in the Hollywood mainstream is restelessly compelling. Yet I pity the directors of each. For they must not only deliver great films, but must also deliver films fully worthy of the enigmatic, relentless, rare talent of Cormac McCarthy.