Shebib's Toronto is suffocating, claustrophobic, and monochromatic. It's dreariness drapes over the screen like a blanket of broken promises and unfulfilled potential. Pete and Joey are practically squeezed by the tight framing, as if the city is wringing them out for every drop it can get. The result is a truly dreary visual experience that matches the tone of the dire story being told. The visual of Pete and Joey standing on the balcony admiring the view as they stare into a pitch black abyss stands out as a truly powerful piece of visual foreshadowing for their future. The city has nothing left for either men but darkness.
Goin' Down The Road is one of the bleakest depictions of Canadiana put on film. A sharp rebuke of both rural upbringing and big city life. Canada is treated as an unwelcoming, hopeless place. Just roads that lead to nowhere, and cities that give you nothing.
It's fascinating that this film has taken on the status that it has as a classic of Canadian cinema (having been a staple on cable TV in the 70s and 80s) because it really does hold up the mirror to the viewer to say "see, this is who we are. This is all we have." It's relative success could be a testament to Canadian willpower. A sign that we can be vulnerable and introspective. Or perhaps we are just gluttons for punishment. Either way, Goin' Down the Road is a tent pole of Canadian cinema for a reason, as it remains a powerful piece of work that sticks woth you.
Shebib's Toronto is suffocating, claustrophobic, and monochromatic. It's dreariness drapes over the screen like a blanket of broken promises and unfulfilled potential. Pete and Joey are practically squeezed by the tight framing, as if the city is wringing them out for every drop it can get. The result is a truly dreary visual experience that matches the tone of the dire story being told. The visual of Pete and Joey standing on the balcony admiring the view as they stare into a pitch black abyss stands out as a truly powerful piece of visual foreshadowing for their future. The city has nothing left for either men but darkness.
Goin' Down The Road is one of the bleakest depictions of Canadiana put on film. A sharp rebuke of both rural upbringing and big city life. Canada is treated as an unwelcoming, hopeless place. Just roads that lead to nowhere, and cities that give you nothing.
It's fascinating that this film has taken on the status that it has as a classic of Canadian cinema (having been a staple on cable TV in the 70s and 80s) because it really does hold up the mirror to the viewer to say "see, this is who we are. This is all we have." It's relative success could be a testament to Canadian willpower. A sign that we can be vulnerable and introspective. Or perhaps we are just gluttons for punishment. Either way, Goin' Down the Road is a tent pole of Canadian cinema for a reason, as it remains a powerful piece of work that sticks woth you.
