Roasted Baby on Spit Was 'Too Much' for 'Road' Director

By Bryan Alexander Posted Nov 25th 2009 04:58PM

Readers of Cormac McCarthy's best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel 'The Road' remember it well -- the scene where the Man discovers a headless baby roasting on a spit, left by a fleeing bunch of cannibals. It's kind of a hard one to forget. But eat your Thanksgiving turkey without fear of losing it in the critically-lauded movie, as director John Hillcoat took that scene out of the final cut of the movie, which opens this weekend. Read Why After the Jump!

Watch a Trailer for 'The Road'

Hillcoat says that in the beginning of the filming process, keeping the baby scene was something he insisted on. "That was something I was fighting for," he said during a recent press junket.

"I said 'We cannot shy away from it,'" he says. But after winning the fight and shooting the scene, he did a complete reversal. "I ended up fighting, saying 'We have to get rid of this scene,'" says Hillcoat.

It wasn't the sensational aspects of the visual that got him to change his mind, though. "We didn't film it like a big close-up, sizzling baby," says Hillcoat. "We tried to do it in a restrained way."

But the image lost the impact that McCarthy's words had, describing the terrifying picture meant to highlight the depths of human depravity. "When you hear about it, it's chilling. It's like the best horror movies are not when the monsters are upfront," says Hillcoat. "In your head it had a different, real impact. When you see it (onscreen), it was so literal and too much."

Something to be thankful for sure for the weak of stomach. Hillcoat says the story depicting a time of canned food, roving cannibals and the end of the world is actually appropriately timed. "The film is all about giving thanks for what we have," he says. "There's no better time than Thanksgiving. Focusing on what really matters."

"It's not a summer movie," he adds. "Let's face it."

Moviefone's Q&A With Viggo Mortensen

Tags: Cormac McCarthy, CormacMccarthy, the road, TheRoad, Viggo Mortensen, ViggoMortensen

Comments

(25)

Sunday 29 November

By heidiseven

Vote down Vote up Report this

baby..the other other white meat

By Vee

Really decent of the removal of such 'horror' for anyone to see, and forever visualize! Be it in the book or not. So why the hell did you have to go head on, and give such 'vivid description' anyway?
SICK!

By Oracle

I'm an Anthropologist, and can say with certainty that throughout antiquity cannibalism has existed in cultures all over the world, and exists, in hushed tones of course, in some places (Papua New Guinea for one).

However, the article fails to state the origin of the baby. While it is true that mothers have the natural instinct to protect their young, cannibalism mostly took place to gain the power of conquered enemies, or, in some cases out of necessity (plane crash in the Andes). Ask any Russian immigrant who lived through Stalinist Russia where they obtained the meat they used in soups and stews; I'm sure the answer will surprise you...

By happy2blane

Relax. It's a work of fiction. The act of humans consuming other humans has occurred even right here in North America. Let's hope it never happens again. However, history shows us that in times of desparation - it happens.

Saturday 11 September

By Baby!

Really for all of those offended, you forget IT NEVER REALLY HAPPENED, the baby eating in the book never happened, yes similar things might have happened in real life but it's not a real baby it's for entertainment/literature purposes to show how bad things have gotten. it's okay to joke it's not like we're making fun of the 9/11 attack here

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