It gave shape to the Beat Generation and provided the credo for the Hippie Movement. Yet i
t’s hard to believe that they were only in their mid-twenties when they went on the epic adventure that would eventually provide the material for the bookOn The Road.
Perhaps having grown up through the Depression and having witnessed a World War, everyone seemed an age beyond their years back then.
As a result the cast in the film adaptation of the book- which includes Kristen Stewart from the teen smash Twilight - have a ready-made youth appeal even though the novel is now over 60 years old.
This is perhaps ideal since On The Road is still regarded by many as something everyone should read before they reach twenty – at least once.
Francis Ford Coppola again finds himself as one of America’s most active cultural gate-keepers; he's been trying to get this film made for years. He landed the screen rights back in 1979.
This will be the first time On The Road has been turned into a movie. It's only the second time an actual Kerouac novel has been given the Hollywood treatment. The first, starring a young George Peppard back in 1960 was based on the amazing novella The Subterraneans.
As befit the times it was little more than a teensploitation flick – wild’n’wanton girls!!!! drug taking hoodlums!!!!…etc. It does feature a cameo from Gerry Mulligan who also provides some amazing music.
Directed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) this time 'round Kerouac’s work has been given a completely different quality of attention. The novel is a significant part of the countries cultural heritage (and identity); its adaptation has been approached with sensitivity and an awareness that capturing its essence on film is like taking charge of a national treasure.
Of course the movie will never have the same impact as the book - which honoured marginalised cultures like Bebop, Buddhism and the hobo in a way that remains fixed in America’s consciousness to this day.
Maybe the best Coppola and his young cast can hope is that it’ll become a film everyone should see at least once before they reach twenty; and perhaps that’s enough.
