A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home to travel from place to place, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives.^[1] The term can still apply to scenarios where it can be a misnomer, such as when the plot of a film involves off-road travel.

History [edit]

The genre has its roots in spoken and written tales of epic journeys, such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid. The road film is a standard plot employed by screenwriters. It is a type of bildungsroman, a story in which the hero changes, grows or improves over the course of the story.

The on-the-road plot was used at the birth of American cinema but blossomed in the years after World War II, reflecting a boom in automobile production and the growth of youth culture. Even so, awareness of the "road picture" as a genre came only in the 1960s with Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider.^{[citation needed]}

References [edit]

1. ^ Danesi, Marcel (2008). Dictionary of Media and Communications. M.E. Sharpe. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-7656-8098-3. 

External links [edit]

• Road Movie Filmography at University of California, Berkeley