Its director, Walter Salles, is no stranger to adapting raw literature onto the big screen, having previously directed The Motorcycle diaries – a film made from the early diaries of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevera. And poignantly, the soundtrack for both films was composed by Argentine Gustavo Santaolalla. Furthermore, the role of Marylou is played by Kristen Stewart; whose pre-Twilight works included a cameo in backpacking film Into the Wild. The film also stars Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst, while protagonist Sal Paradise is played by English actor Sam Riley.
Some novels just translate naturally and effortlessly onto the big screen, and having recently read Kerouac’s masterpiece of ‘spontaneous prose’ for the first time, it instantly struck me as a potentially great screenplay. And soon, fifty years after the story was first told, we will have the opportunity to judge that for ourselves.
On the Road is the largely autobiographical tale of Sal Paradise – a reflection of Kerouac himself Neal Cassady. And – and his adventures ‘on the road’ with zestful friend Dean Moriarty – a fictionalised portrayal of Neal Cassady. And the relationship between those two characters is at the heart of the story, as they hitchhike repeatedly between New York and the Great American West. And their wanderlust is something to which we can all relate.
Jack Kerouac is heralded as the leading figure of the ‘Beat Generation’, inspiring hundreds of kids to hit the road. It is a tale full of sex, drugs and jazz. But the author once described himself as ‘a strange solitary crazy Catholic mystic’. And that is what really lies at the heart of his travels; a spiritual search for man’s own role in the universe.
Kerouac typed On the Road, the story of seven years’ worth of travel, in three weeks on a 120-foot long scroll of paper. And as such, he just wrote whatever formulated in his mind, giving life to long, vivid descriptions of jazz performances, people, and the Mexican heat. And undoubtedly this film will see those descriptions transcend words and adopt a whole new significance.
The original novel, first published in 1957, has influenced and inspired multiple generations of young people, and that is a lot to live up to when it is finally screened. But with Walter Salles behind it, I can see it becoming a fitting tribute to the late author, as well as introducing a whole new generation to the genius of Jack Kerouac.
By Martin Greenacre
