Why Isn't This A Film? - Blood Meridian

What have we got here then?

Blood Meridian carries the ambiguous subtitle or the Evening Redness in the West and was Cormac McCarthy's fifth novel, first going in to print in 1985. Although it failed to generate much of a critical reaction at the time it has since been hailed as a classic of contemporary fiction, taking its place on several 'best of' lists and being hailed by many as McCarthy's masterpiece.

OK fine. What’s it about?

Blood Meridian is ostensibly a Western following your typical 'man with no name', known only as The Kid, on a journey around the US/Mexico borders during a time period defined specifically by the book as 1849-1850.

Interesting. Is there something more?

Although the book carries the nameless protagonist of a Western, the rest of the narrative seems almost to undermine (or perhaps accentuate) what that genre has come to mean in fiction and film. The violence is extreme, savage and shocking; never is it suggested that any of the characters deserve redemption or that the American protagonists are any better or more civilised than the Indians and Mexicans they come in to contact with. The Kid spends the majority of the novel in the company of a gang of murderous scalp hunters, whose actions are never anything but brutally violent.

Save me the trouble then – is it any good?

Although slow to start, Blood Meridian becomes compelling once The Kid joins up with The Glanton Gang, the historically accurate group of hunters mentioned above. Within this group, the protagonist begins a complicated relationship with both Glanton himself and the character who, arguably, at times, supersedes him as the group's leader, Judge Holden. Holden and Glanton are brutal - even in the context of this narrative - wholly without remorse, unreliable storytellers and unpredictable plot components, and they lend the narrative a much-needed air of innovation.

McCarthy's writing is, as ever, superb, although you'll need a dictionary and a lot of patience, his lack of speech marks and other grammatical conventions making Blood Meridian a difficult read, particularly at the start. Stick with it though and it becomes a bit of a monster: threatening, lurching and disturbingly unwholesome.

But…

Despite the wonderfully composed prose, McCarthy never gives you the impression that you are reading awards-bait, perhaps due to the brutality his words depict... apart from the final chapter or so. At this point Blood Meridian becomes a book which screams out for an award. Dialogue becomes infinitely flowery, scenes become ambiguous; its filmic equivalent would be the lazy use of a hazy montage. The last twenty pages or so are rather disappointing.

What are its chances of being made as a film?

At the start of 2010 a piece appeared on The Guardian website claiming that the arrival of further McCarthy adaptations (after The Road and No Country For Old Men) would not be too far down the line. It's easy to see why. On the whole, McCarthy adaptations have been received fairly well by both critics and public and his work does have a visceral vision that seems to translate well to film.

As far back as 2008 Ridley Scott was talking positively about his chances to bring the project to the screen. After that apparently floundered, the project passed to Todd Field, who struggled earnestly but was, again, unable to bring his vision into realisation. The latest indication, emerging very recently, is that James Franco will direct the project, having impressed producer Scott Rudin with a test shoot. Franco marks an interesting, and slightly left-field, choice for a brutal contemporary classic but the film perhaps needs something very original bringing to it, an element Franco could undoubtedly provide. The film has a tentative 2015 release date on IMDb.

But who'd star in it?

In his test shoot, Franco reportedly had Mark Pellegrino as The Judge, which seems like odd casting, given that The Judge is described as physically large and possessing the power to instill fear into one and all. Pellegrino just doesn't have that presence, although he may be able to fit the role of Glanton, something which he'll have to take up with Scott Glen who probably initially filled the role for Franco. Better choices for The Judge could include a beefed up Ralph Fiennes, a hairless Ray Winstone (The Judge is bald) or someone playing effectively against-type; think a Patrick Dempsey, assuming he was willing to lose the locks. The dream casting would have almost certainly have been an Apocalypse Now-era Marlon Brando.

The Kid provides a casting nightmare. The character needs to be young, confident, as brutal as the rest of the gang but slightly likable with it. He has common sense but is not clever and, at least on face value, appears one of the only characters not terrified by The Judge. Perhaps Daniel Radcliffe would like to continue his bid to escape from Harry Potter, assuming he can shed a touch of his nervous air. We Need To Talk About Kevin's Ezra Miller has already shown he can do quiet threat and menace, whilst Franco used his brother, Dave, for his shoot.

Will it be any good?

Recent McCarthy adaptations have only been good-to-excellent so far. There shouldn't be any sort of way this material breaks the cycle.

Anything else I should know about it?

The expertly read speech below gives a good flavour of what you can expect from Blood Meridian.





Why Isn't This A Film? is a regular Film Intel feature which takes a book (you know... one of those things with pages in, doesn't project on to a screen, makes small rustling noises), comic, video game or graphic novel and assesses its adaptation prospects. One day this feature will get something right and we will win something major and valuable. Possibly.