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Into
the Wild
(2007)
At times it's easy to despair about the state of filmmaking, but then
a film comes along to remind you that there are still films that have
something to say and say it well. This is one of those films.
It tells the controversial true story of Christopher McCandless
(Emile Hirsch), an idealistic young man who decides to donate his
college fund to charity and leave behind what he sees as a meaningless
existence to wander around the country under the name of Alexander
Supertramp with the goal of making his way to Alaska to live off the
land, a quest that ultimately leads to his death from starvation in
the Alaskan wilderness.
Writer/director Sean Penn (The Crossing Guard, The Pledge)
transforms Jon Krakauer's book about McCandless into a powerful film
that seduces the audience from the very first frame and doesn't let go
until the end credits roll. Penn finds both grace and tragedy in the
life and death of a remarkable young man, albeit one who was naive and
even arrogant in overestimating his ability to survive in the wild.
There's poetry in the telling of this story that is as intimate in
scale as it is epic in theme, recalling the films of Terrence Malick
(Days of Heaven, The New World).
In exploring how one character on a journey touches the lives of
others and in turn has his life touched by them, it also makes an
interesting companion piece to David Lynch's The Straight Story. In
the end, we're defined by the lives we touch and our relationships
with our fellow humans. What lends strength to this film is its
refusal to judge McCandless or to attempt to neatly explain what drove
his actions, showing Penn's respect for both McCandless and the
intelligence of the audience.
Cinematographer Eric Gautier (The Motorcycle Diaries) captures the
beauty of the natural landscapes McCandless travels through, allowing
us to appreciate them in the same way the character does. A
combination of music by Michael Brook (An Inconvenient Truth), Kaki
King, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder with original songs written and
performed by Vedder results in a soundtrack that matches the story's
intensity.
Penn's direction of his cast is sharp, obtaining the kind of electric
performances he's known for as an actor. Hirsch's fervent portrayal
of the central character burns up the screen, and he delves so deep into
his role that only McCandless remains a charismatic
presence that you can't take your eyes off of even for a second. The
cast includes William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as McCandless'
parents, Jena Malone as his sister, Brian Dierker and Catherine Keener
as a hippie couple he meets on the road, Vince Vaughn as a man he
works with in South Dakota, Kristen Stewart as a teenaged girl he
meets in California, and Hal Holbrook as a lonely retired soldier who
takes him in and begins to see him as the grandson he never had. For
some of them, this is their best work in years, for others, its their
best ever.
Into the Wild is one of those rare films that works on every level.
It's not something that can merely be watched, instead it begs to be
experienced and even endured as an ordeal as emotionally draining as
it is life affirming.
-Danielle
Ní Dhighe
Other
Thoughts: Mark Moreland 
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All contents ©
2004-2007 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
Sean
Penn
Writer: Sean
Penn, Jon Krakauer
Starring: Emile
Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Brian Dierker, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, Hal Holbrook
Distributor: Paramount
Vantage
Runtime: 140
min
Rating: R
Release Date: September
21, 2007
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