Road to perdition

Road to perdition
Tushar K Shukla

People ask me if Michael Sullivan was a good man and I tell them just one thing, "he was my father." The movie reminds of the sense of guilt that an offender of law goes through, not cause of the crimes he has done, but because of the fear that his children would imbibe/inherit their legacy. Quite reminiscent of Blow, the same emptiness and nausea. Road to perdition is poignant élan and beauty, poetry in motion. Seldom has a crime tale been depicted with such poetic justice. The music seems born for the scenes; the screenplay flows effortlessly from one tight shot into the other. Hanks is at his best. The dignified portrayal of a felon is the best thing that could happen to the modern day cinema. When others are busy saving the world from Iraq and aliens, Sam Mendes breaks out of the rut and delivers a classis work of art, a masterpiece in the cinema of poise set in the post depression era. The camera work is complementary to the class direction and acting. Newman in another of unforgettable roles. Some scenes that deserve a special mention are the shoot sequences in the rain, the silent one towards the end, the character played by Jude law, the talk Hanks has with the landlady about children, his scene with his son where he talks about his inclination towards Mike, the scene at the bar where Mike negotiates his share of the robbed money with Michael, and of course the climax scene where Michael is happy when Mike tells him, Dad, I just could not do it.