| In Cormac McCarthy’s violent 1985 novel Blood Meridian, Judge Holden, one of the leaders of a raping, murdering gang in 1847 on the border of Mexico and Texas, philosophizes, “If God meant to interfere in the degeneracy of mankind would he not have done so by now? Wolves cull themselves, man. What other creature could? And is the race of man not more predacious yet? The way of the world is to bloom and to flower and die but in the affairs of men there is no waning and the noon of his expression signals the onset of night. His spirit is exhausted at the peak of its achievement.” Whether you label the author a Gnostic, Nietzschean, or a nihilist, McCarthy’s first feature length screenplay reflects this pitiless vision of life: The Counselor will freeze you to the bone and leave a rictus on your face. Read More ... |