THE ROAD, AN AMERICAN LEGEND

Everywhere in America, there is a car outside the house and, by way of consequence, the Road is a strong cultural element as a link between human beings and landscapes, a perfect place of transition, pleasures and fear. For road movies, Duel or Mulholland Drive, all the roads are places to nowhere and unknown: here's to the land where heroes are looking to get lost, to find a new star or a rebirth.

ESCAPING THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE

First, I must say Road Movies is a genre which follows specifics rules. Look at Thelma and Louise, Badlands, Bonnie and Clyde, Sugartland Express, Boxcar Bertha, Two-lane Blacktop, Zabriskie Point, Into the Wild or even Dumb and Dumber and Cars. All these movies are exploring American landscapes through the inhabitants and their "Way of Life", following all the time the same schema, which is, I think, this one :

- The main character is leaving the stereotypical way of life because 1/ he wants to escape from annoying habits (Thelma and Louise) 2/ because of laws or enemies (Badlands) 3/ because of an unexpected quest (Lord of the Rings) 4/ because of destiny (Cars).

- On the road and across the country he discovers many aspects of human beings through unusual people living with simplicity. In touch with a landscape, silence and simple emotions he learns to like nature and love the life. At last, the hero is really himself, he's free.

- He has discover truth, love, freedom but a dramatic event makes the character reconnect with reality and he finally dies (even if it's metaphorical). Finally the law, past and civilisation always catch up the hero in an unpredictable final landscape.

SURVIVING MONSTERS

But the road isn't only a journey, it's also could be a way to survive in movies like The Road, 28 Days Later, From Dusk till Dawn, Zodiac, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, No Country for Old Men, Duel, War of the Worlds and many others. Here, the landscape is a path of fear with predictable monsters, killers or even aliens. Heroes are looking to survice against enemies and, again, the genre follows some rules:

- Of course, on the one hand, everything begins with a normal hero, with a little story: a father dock worker in War of the World, a middle age businessman in Duel, two bank robbers in From Dusk Till Dawn and no one is expecting the monster's challenge.

- On the other hand, a fantastic monster (and potential killer) appeared: a truck in Duel, a very strange man in Lost Highway, a free T-Rex in Jurassic Park or vampires in Near Dark and vehicles are becoming havens and, at the same time, targets capable of being identified. If the hero is confronting the killer with imagination, most of the time he is just a runaway. At last, the monster, or the main character, stalked the other during a sequence with high suspense where the face-off is creating a descent into hell.

- Finally the heroes survive and kill the monster. The action stops abruptly and moviegoer thinks the hero is going back to the same life as before. But it's never indisputable...and sequels are always possible!

CHASING AN ENEMY

At last, the road is the favorite place for the most famous chases in cinema : Bullit, James Bond films, Speed, French Connexion, The Rock, The fast and the furious, Die Hard with a vengeance and many others !!

Here, the road element isn't the main landscape, it's just one location for chasing someone else. Usually, filmakers use a lot of close-ups alternating with skidding or inserts and editing uses a lot of cuts. The car has a funny shape and the driving is very fast. The high danger is increased because of the traffic and because the enemy creates obstacles. If there are always a lot of people following the chase, only the hero is better and that's why the final ride is always impossible without adventurousness and a smart trick: remember John McLane following an Ambulance in Die Hard with a vengeance!