One thing The Hitcher understands is that the road can be an intimate place. And it delivers on that with the foreboding, atmospheric score that opens up the film and sets a chilling atmosphere. Throughout the film, there are numerous wide shots of the empty desert high way, making it known that it's just Jim, the titular hitcher and the open space. The wide shots make it seem like the hitcher could be anywhere and gives him an omnipresent presence. This is a road for them and them alone and anyone who comes into that territory ends up dead.
The relationship between John and Jim is really "weird" (for lack of a better word) as it feels as though they are brought together by fate. The car that passes Jim at the start of the film is later revealed to have also been hijacked by John making it feel like their meeting wasn't by chance. References are made to fate later on in the bar scene, where John puts the coins over Jim's eyes. It isn't clear who (or what) john is exactly as he seems to be a mix between supernatural and natural. He is given an omnipresent presence as he seems to be everywhere, tying back to what I said about the portrayal of the road as an intimate setting. Even though he doesn't have a huge screentime, has a huge impact on the life of Jim. This is exemplified also i the bar scene, where Jim points the gun at him under the table, but John points his finger and pretends it's a gun, which causes Jim to cower. There also seems to be no records of him available anywhere and it is as if the day Jim began to head for california was the day John decided to start killing. Is it fate bringing them together? Or is John Ryder a cosmic being sent directly to Jim. It isn't clear why John targets Jim and doesn't kill him immediately. Does he just want to fuck with him or does he want to change the trajectory of Jim's life forever? It seems like he succeeded in achieving the latter. At the start of the film the color palette of Jim's costume and car are predominantly red while the costume of the hitcher is predominantly black, he is also seen in silhouettes. But at the end Jim's color palette also becomes predominantly black and he also becomes silhouetted in the last shot just like the hitcher. The film/day starts and ends with him smoking but it is clear that he is no longer the naive boy he was at the start of the day.
There is undeniably a strong homoerotic undercurrent in John and Jim's relationship which some read as homophobic but I just read as homoerotic. This is captured through numerous shots like the close up of John's lips from Jim's pov and the numerous symmetrical shots alongside the sadomasochistic elements in some scenes. John could be seen as a force of homosexual angst and a microcosm for homosexuals living in a world where no one wants them and they are constantly treated as outsiders. This may be why he asks for Jim to kill him. And also why the only girl Jim in the film, who also tries to help Jim, gets the most gruesome death. It ties back to what i said earlier about the road being for them and them alone.
The film comes to an end with Jim killing John off, finally granting John's wish. If we're following the assumption that John is some cosmic force of homosexual angst, then this ending could be interpreted as Jim pushing away his homosexual feelings because he is not ready to face it yet. This presents the ending as a sad one and not a victorious one and why the end score remains foreboding just as it started. It could represent a vicious cycle where Jim has now become the hitcher (which is why he's costume has become predominantly black) and will carry on the work of John.
One thing The Hitcher understands is that the road can be an intimate place. And it delivers on that with the foreboding, atmospheric score that opens up the film and sets a chilling atmosphere. Throughout the film, there are numerous wide shots of the empty desert high way, making it known that it's just Jim, the titular hitcher and the open space. The wide shots make it seem like the hitcher could be anywhere and gives him an omnipresent presence. This is a road for them and them alone and anyone who comes into that territory ends up dead.
The relationship between John and Jim is really "weird" (for lack of a better word) as it feels as though they are brought together by fate. The car that passes Jim at the start of the film is later revealed to have also been hijacked by John making it feel like their meeting wasn't by chance. References are made to fate later on in the bar scene, where John puts the coins over Jim's eyes. It isn't clear who (or what) john is exactly as he seems to be a mix between supernatural and natural. He is given an omnipresent presence as he seems to be everywhere, tying back to what I said about the portrayal of the road as an intimate setting. Even though he doesn't have a huge screentime, has a huge impact on the life of Jim. This is exemplified also i the bar scene, where Jim points the gun at him under the table, but John points his finger and pretends it's a gun, which causes Jim to cower. There also seems to be no records of him available anywhere and it is as if the day Jim began to head for california was the day John decided to start killing. Is it fate bringing them together? Or is John Ryder a cosmic being sent directly to Jim. It isn't clear why John targets Jim and doesn't kill him immediately. Does he just want to fuck with him or does he want to change the trajectory of Jim's life forever? It seems like he succeeded in achieving the latter. At the start of the film the color palette of Jim's costume and car are predominantly red while the costume of the hitcher is predominantly black, he is also seen in silhouettes. But at the end Jim's color palette also becomes predominantly black and he also becomes silhouetted in the last shot just like the hitcher. The film/day starts and ends with him smoking but it is clear that he is no longer the naive boy he was at the start of the day.
There is undeniably a strong homoerotic undercurrent in John and Jim's relationship which some read as homophobic but I just read as homoerotic. This is captured through numerous shots like the close up of John's lips from Jim's pov and the numerous symmetrical shots alongside the sadomasochistic elements in some scenes. John could be seen as a force of homosexual angst and a microcosm for homosexuals living in a world where no one wants them and they are constantly treated as outsiders. This may be why he asks for Jim to kill him. And also why the only girl Jim in the film, who also tries to help Jim, gets the most gruesome death. It ties back to what i said earlier about the road being for them and them alone.
The film comes to an end with Jim killing John off, finally granting John's wish. If we're following the assumption that John is some cosmic force of homosexual angst, then this ending could be interpreted as Jim pushing away his homosexual feelings because he is not ready to face it yet. This presents the ending as a sad one and not a victorious one and why the end score remains foreboding just as it started. It could represent a vicious cycle where Jim has now become the hitcher (which is why he's costume has become predominantly black) and will carry on the work of John.
