End of "The Road" (in Pittsburgh, Anyway)

Working on his adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, John Hillcoat has wrapped up filming in Pittsburgh and is moving on to Lake Erie, New Orleans, Mount St. Helens, and the Oregon coast.

“The book had a huge impact on me, it affected me more deeply and more profoundly than almost anything I’ve ever read,” Mr. Hillcoat said. “That’s partly because I’m a father of a gorgeous 6-year-old boy” and mindful of what’s happening in the world.

Growing up in Canada in the 1970s, the native Australian worried nuclear war was inevitable.

“Quite seriously, I never even thought I’d get to the age of 40 as a kid, as a teenager at least,” he said.

But he did and he’s making a movie that explores humanity and hope in a seemingly hopeless world and a father who teaches his son to “carry the fire,” as Mr. McCarthy so eloquently phrases it.