INTO THE WILD
dir: Sean Penn
"Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road." - Chris
Brief Synopsis
A young man leaves society behind and begins a quest to explore the world on a mission to travel to Alaska meeting various unique people along the way.
Why It's Here
As a director, Sean Penn has never achieved the acclaim that he has as an actor. His former projects, usually starring Jack Nicholson, are often very dark and depressing dramas. So for someone as grim and serious as Sean Penn, it is extremely odd to see him attached to an optimistic bio-pic about a young man who chose a life with nature rather than human society and his union with the wild. On the other hand, many critics have noted Penn's heavy left-winged nature, his roles often are in some way related to groups who suffer some form of discrimination, prejudice, or oppression with hopes of bringing light to their issues. So suddenly, it's almost unusual that Penn had not taken up directing a film about rejecting society, human corruption, and being one with the world.
The true story revolves around Christopher McCandless--played by Emilie Hirsch with surprising conviction and sincerity--an intelligent young man who decides that the college life isn't for him, and decides to embark on a quest into the wild. Away from people, away from civilization, away from economics. Ultimately McCandless ended up in Alaska, his final destination and his body was later discovered weeks after his death; he died of starvation from reasons still unclear. It is easy to dismiss McCandless's life as ignorant and immature, after all he decided that the world was ugly and the best way to deal with that was to turn his back on it, he treaded into the wilderness without proper survival skills or knowledge against the wishes of people he met along the way. And yet, we empathize with him because he knows what wants out of his life, and his sense of total rejection is something so radical, it's difficult to relate to as an audience.
The thing about McCandless is that yes, he was foolish in his approach, but his goal was heartfelt. He chose his path, no matter how it seemed to others. He decided that he wanted to live in the wild without technology or money or government. I won't defend this film when people criticize it's sense of higher importance, indeed this film lavishes in it's pretentious sense of righteousness with love and peace, however, a simple pro-environment left-wing pep talk this film is not. There is a lot of soul, emotion, and truth to this film. The shots of the gorgeous and unique wild make this film a feast for the eyes and the narration acts as food for thought. While it fills our minds with talk of the earths beauty and the significance of each creature on it, we aren't asked to agree, but to observe why McCandless finds it so fascinating. He loves this planet in ways that many can not understand, and while he may not know what he is doing in the wild, we get a sense that it suddenly doesn't matter. McCandless chooses this life because he doesn't understand any other, and dying in the wild is much more peaceful and wholesome to Chris than dying in a hospital and being buried in a box. If you choose to ignore or accept to it's rapture, there is something beautiful about the way it talks about the earth and the place of it's creatures in the greater scheme of things.
This clip expresses the sense of how this film believes heavily in love and the wild, and perhaps offers an understanding of why someone would want to live in the middle of nowhere:
Hirsch's character is interesting himself, which is helpful because for a large portion of the film, we are alone with him. However, many notable actors make appearances to share their wisdom, most notably Hal Holbrook who plays Ron, a lonely senior who becomes attached to McCandless's spirit and asks to adopt him. Each of the people McCandless encounters wish him to stay within the realm of society and to not venture into the unpredictable wild, but they simply act as mirrors of us, the audience. We know McCandless's fate in the woods and would wish he'd turn back, return to the family he has left behind. These characters he meets are the voices of the audience communicating for us. These characters still have some attachment to people and society to varying degrees, and they simply don't understand Chris, he is on another plain than the rest of us. He feels truly free and for better or worse, he has no real human attachment. He never even calls his sister, which puzzles her as we learn through her narration. The closest he gets to anyone is Tracy (played by Kristen Stewart), a shy and attractive teenager living in a trailer park out in the desert. The two of them bond, but as Chris has shown us many times, he is simply not attached like a normal person would be, as he says his goodbyes, they are indeed heartfelt, but he walks away without regret or sadness; he has a greater goal, a higher purpose. Whether or not you can agree with that or even see it, is irrelevant. As quoted above, Chris sees himself as an extremist, he is just as aware as we are of how radical he seems, but he knows he must continue, because after all, his home is the road. His sister ponders why he never attempted to communicate her, despite the fact that she is the person most strongly bonded to him, and in the end rests on the belief that she understands him well enough to know that he can't look back, he must drive forward. She is comforted by the knowledge that he hasn't run off in a case of rebellion or angst, but simply because it is in his nature.
While Chris is disconnected from the typical human compassion most of us feel, the audience spends a considerable amount of time alone with Chris, in these intimate, lonely scenes, often shrouded in silence, we experience the crackles and whistles of the sounds in the wild. Through the beautiful cinematography we can catch just a glimpse of the reason Chris loves the wilderness so much, although we can only see through a lens, while he sees through his eyes, far and wide. This is where Hirsch's subtle acting comes in the strongest, his eyes scanning the horizon and his relaxation reflect a state of bliss and joy in the character that we as an audience feel comfort in, that this is where he wants to be, which in turn, makes it where we want to be as well.
As a director, Sean Penn frames a shot with great elegance, his musical choices are inspired, however his faults lie in some odd choices that distract from the overall narrative. Some scenes are indulgent in their scenery and almost feel like over-kill in a film already saturated in gorgeous wildlife, while others, such as Chris eating an apple and looking directly into the camera, show spirit and charm, but feel as though Penn thought it would be a good time to be experimental in an otherwise fairly straightforward film. Chris looking at us, the audience, is especially jarring because for the rest of the film, the story acts voyeuristic in that the audience is peering into Chris's life in his most personal, private, special moments of his life, with him looking back at us, it's as though he's aware of our existence and the flow is suddenly shattered. Thankfully this scene is offbeat from the rest of the film and quick, so momentum returns quickly. But with that scene aside, what makes this Penn's most complete film is the level of passion spewed into it, it's evident in nearly every frame, this is the work of someone who loves their art and is truly heartfelt.
As a film that favours our lush green forests over our shiny, slick cities, it is strange that Penn doesn't make the film in full alliance with McCandless. Cuts to his parents living in a constant state of agony and responsibility for his disappearance leave the audience feeling sympathetic for these otherwise nasty human beings. They are haunted by Chris like a ghost, his mother constantly looking around herself hoping that some day he'll just walk up to her and things will return to normal. However, we can't hold Chris responsible, his sister's soft narration reassures us that while Chris's decision to leave may have been difficult for those he left behind, he had a reason and a motivation to leave. While he dies, McCandless does not leave a sad story behind, we do not feel sorrow in his death, because he constantly reminds us that this is the way he wanted to live and that he feels blessed for his life. He quickly jots down that happiness must be shared, and proceeds to die alone. Initially, we feel that Chris did not achieve happiness, but looking back at the variety of people he encountered and the relationships he developed and the people he aided, we discover that Chris shared more happiness in the 24 years that he lived than most of us do in our whole lives. In no way does this feel sappy or unnecessary, but instead feels like the testament of a man who finally figured out what life is all about.
The true story revolves around Christopher McCandless--played by Emilie Hirsch with surprising conviction and sincerity--an intelligent young man who decides that the college life isn't for him, and decides to embark on a quest into the wild. Away from people, away from civilization, away from economics. Ultimately McCandless ended up in Alaska, his final destination and his body was later discovered weeks after his death; he died of starvation from reasons still unclear. It is easy to dismiss McCandless's life as ignorant and immature, after all he decided that the world was ugly and the best way to deal with that was to turn his back on it, he treaded into the wilderness without proper survival skills or knowledge against the wishes of people he met along the way. And yet, we empathize with him because he knows what wants out of his life, and his sense of total rejection is something so radical, it's difficult to relate to as an audience.
The thing about McCandless is that yes, he was foolish in his approach, but his goal was heartfelt. He chose his path, no matter how it seemed to others. He decided that he wanted to live in the wild without technology or money or government. I won't defend this film when people criticize it's sense of higher importance, indeed this film lavishes in it's pretentious sense of righteousness with love and peace, however, a simple pro-environment left-wing pep talk this film is not. There is a lot of soul, emotion, and truth to this film. The shots of the gorgeous and unique wild make this film a feast for the eyes and the narration acts as food for thought. While it fills our minds with talk of the earths beauty and the significance of each creature on it, we aren't asked to agree, but to observe why McCandless finds it so fascinating. He loves this planet in ways that many can not understand, and while he may not know what he is doing in the wild, we get a sense that it suddenly doesn't matter. McCandless chooses this life because he doesn't understand any other, and dying in the wild is much more peaceful and wholesome to Chris than dying in a hospital and being buried in a box. If you choose to ignore or accept to it's rapture, there is something beautiful about the way it talks about the earth and the place of it's creatures in the greater scheme of things.
This clip expresses the sense of how this film believes heavily in love and the wild, and perhaps offers an understanding of why someone would want to live in the middle of nowhere:
Hirsch's character is interesting himself, which is helpful because for a large portion of the film, we are alone with him. However, many notable actors make appearances to share their wisdom, most notably Hal Holbrook who plays Ron, a lonely senior who becomes attached to McCandless's spirit and asks to adopt him. Each of the people McCandless encounters wish him to stay within the realm of society and to not venture into the unpredictable wild, but they simply act as mirrors of us, the audience. We know McCandless's fate in the woods and would wish he'd turn back, return to the family he has left behind. These characters he meets are the voices of the audience communicating for us. These characters still have some attachment to people and society to varying degrees, and they simply don't understand Chris, he is on another plain than the rest of us. He feels truly free and for better or worse, he has no real human attachment. He never even calls his sister, which puzzles her as we learn through her narration. The closest he gets to anyone is Tracy (played by Kristen Stewart), a shy and attractive teenager living in a trailer park out in the desert. The two of them bond, but as Chris has shown us many times, he is simply not attached like a normal person would be, as he says his goodbyes, they are indeed heartfelt, but he walks away without regret or sadness; he has a greater goal, a higher purpose. Whether or not you can agree with that or even see it, is irrelevant. As quoted above, Chris sees himself as an extremist, he is just as aware as we are of how radical he seems, but he knows he must continue, because after all, his home is the road. His sister ponders why he never attempted to communicate her, despite the fact that she is the person most strongly bonded to him, and in the end rests on the belief that she understands him well enough to know that he can't look back, he must drive forward. She is comforted by the knowledge that he hasn't run off in a case of rebellion or angst, but simply because it is in his nature.
While Chris is disconnected from the typical human compassion most of us feel, the audience spends a considerable amount of time alone with Chris, in these intimate, lonely scenes, often shrouded in silence, we experience the crackles and whistles of the sounds in the wild. Through the beautiful cinematography we can catch just a glimpse of the reason Chris loves the wilderness so much, although we can only see through a lens, while he sees through his eyes, far and wide. This is where Hirsch's subtle acting comes in the strongest, his eyes scanning the horizon and his relaxation reflect a state of bliss and joy in the character that we as an audience feel comfort in, that this is where he wants to be, which in turn, makes it where we want to be as well.
As a director, Sean Penn frames a shot with great elegance, his musical choices are inspired, however his faults lie in some odd choices that distract from the overall narrative. Some scenes are indulgent in their scenery and almost feel like over-kill in a film already saturated in gorgeous wildlife, while others, such as Chris eating an apple and looking directly into the camera, show spirit and charm, but feel as though Penn thought it would be a good time to be experimental in an otherwise fairly straightforward film. Chris looking at us, the audience, is especially jarring because for the rest of the film, the story acts voyeuristic in that the audience is peering into Chris's life in his most personal, private, special moments of his life, with him looking back at us, it's as though he's aware of our existence and the flow is suddenly shattered. Thankfully this scene is offbeat from the rest of the film and quick, so momentum returns quickly. But with that scene aside, what makes this Penn's most complete film is the level of passion spewed into it, it's evident in nearly every frame, this is the work of someone who loves their art and is truly heartfelt.
As a film that favours our lush green forests over our shiny, slick cities, it is strange that Penn doesn't make the film in full alliance with McCandless. Cuts to his parents living in a constant state of agony and responsibility for his disappearance leave the audience feeling sympathetic for these otherwise nasty human beings. They are haunted by Chris like a ghost, his mother constantly looking around herself hoping that some day he'll just walk up to her and things will return to normal. However, we can't hold Chris responsible, his sister's soft narration reassures us that while Chris's decision to leave may have been difficult for those he left behind, he had a reason and a motivation to leave. While he dies, McCandless does not leave a sad story behind, we do not feel sorrow in his death, because he constantly reminds us that this is the way he wanted to live and that he feels blessed for his life. He quickly jots down that happiness must be shared, and proceeds to die alone. Initially, we feel that Chris did not achieve happiness, but looking back at the variety of people he encountered and the relationships he developed and the people he aided, we discover that Chris shared more happiness in the 24 years that he lived than most of us do in our whole lives. In no way does this feel sappy or unnecessary, but instead feels like the testament of a man who finally figured out what life is all about.