A Road To Hope In Great Despair

In the film history of more than 100 years, "on the road" movie takes a significant role, as it focuses on reflecting the evolvement of the human being thinking about how to face themselves and how to face the true life, and their continuous seeking between existence and destruction, value and meanings. Up till now, the on the road movies have been awarded all important awards in the field of movie, and acquired great recognition from the critics. However, its present research status is after a long way from its outstanding achievements and status, i.e. the researchers do not distinguish "on the road" movie clearly from road movie, classifying them into one category, therefore, the unique specifications of on the road movie are concealed. Thereinafter, I will introduce on the road movie as an independent morphology to discuss its characteristic better and more roundly, and to make it break away from its embarrass status in such a long period.The essay composes of three parts: foreword, text, and epilogue.Foreword, ie. Raise the concept of "on the road" movie morphology.In the foreword, I introduce the general situation of "on the road" movie which I am studying, and the conception of film morphology. Based on this, I will try to distinguish two teams of confusing conceptions: road movie and on the road movie, film typology and film morphology.Referring to the research ways of film morphology , the text is composed of four parts as following:Part 1: the wander and his shadow, i.e. the spiritual essential of on the road movie. From the wander, dramatis personae in on the road movies, this part tries to unearth how on the road movie comprehend the existence status of the human being. From rootless spirit to pointed situation, after experiencing the sufferings from self-deception and anxiety, the wander finally tends forward to self-exceed. Such an evolution reflects thehuman's suffering but pleasant seeking for their self-worth.Part 2: On behalf of God, i.e. the religion form of on the road movie. From the religion background of on the road movie, especially from Christianity and Islam, this part focuses on analyses the religious influence on the forms and contents of those movies. Meanwhile, from the antinomy between the religion and the mundane, or between the belief and the redemption, in this part I am seeking for another existing way that on the road movie points out.Part 3: The history of on the road movie, i.e. the development of such a narrative way of movies. I seek for its original type from Greek fables and stroller novels, for its developing tracking from American western literature and western movie, and finally confirm its initial narrative regulations and principles from American early road movie, so as to find the cultural and literature source of on the road movie.Part 4: Brief but not simple, i.e. the structural characteristics of on the road movie. Through analyzing some important narrative characteristics of on the road movie, this part tries to unearth the connection among the story, structure and theory of such kind of movies. The significance of this part is that it researches those movies not from all aspects but from some points, so that the similar points of their structure are discovered, and then we come to a conclusion: such a "on the road" structure in those movies is more than a narrative way, in some way, it exceeds narration to become an independent spirit power.In the epilogue, I make a summary on the essay; what's more, from the stand of Chinese movies to learn the value of on the road movie, I make an expectation to the future of our national movies.