Title: Into the Wild
Genre: Drama/Adventure
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener
Directed by: Sean Penn
Screenplay by: Sean Penn, based on the book by Jon Krakauer
Summary :
What a polarising movie. For some, Christopher McCandless is an intrepid adventurer who frees himself from society’s shackles in a bid to live a truly free life. For others, he is stupid, tragic and inconsiderate, and far too binary in his assessment of his environment and others around him. He applies a strict moral code to everyone he meets while failing to recognise that life is mostly shades of grey. Whatever he was in reality, this movie is a great tale about finding yourself: your values, your sense of self, your life.
If you haven’t seen Into the Wild, I highly recommend it. Sean Penn as a director does a great job turning a story about a guy many would consider a drifting vagrant into a romanticised tale about breaking free from society’s expectations. That guy is McCandless, who after graduating from university in 1990 donated $25,000 in savings to UNICEF and disappeared from his family and friends without a trace. Disillusioned with society having grown up in an upper middle-class household with an abusive, domineering father, McCandless renames himself Alexander Supertramp, and travels across North America. The film documents his main adventures, like working for a contracting harvesting company in South Dakota, where he meets Wayne Westerburg (Vaughn), who eventually gets arrested by the FBI for satellite piracy. In a small town working on the land, Vaughn explains to him that society is just a construct made up of good and bad people, good and bad things. He kayaks down rivers, lives in hippy communes, and meets an old army veteran who lost his wife and child many years ago. Each teach him something valuable, influence his growth as a man and views of the world. But ultimately, his goal is to live alone in the Alaskan bush. The wild. Once he hitchhikes there, he travels completely unprepared into the Alaskan bush where he intends to stay in solitary.
Emile Hirsch is (was?) a fantastic actor and does a tremendous job portraying McCandless. Sometimes the script could be accused of over romanticising his character while not drawing more attention to his obvious flaws, and how he perceives the world around him. The supporting cast is phenomenal. The cinematography is amazing, particularly if you’re a fan of the outdoors. The script, while slowly paced in places, always does a good job of providing meaning.
I remember watching this movie without PFS when I was barely 18 and it had a real effect on what I viewed as important. I remember doing things at the time that I thought I should be doing, but that really weren’t that important to me. At the time it made me laugh and cry, sometimes within minutes of each other. It’s heartbreaking to see someone who was so intent on living alone finally realise that life is all about connection, but only when it’s too late. Even with PFS, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Definitely worth a watch.
Score : 9/10
