Movie Notes: Into The Wild

June 20th, 2008

= 4 stars

Starring Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn
Directed by Sean Penn

Synopsis

Recent college graduate and dreamer Christopher McCandless abandons his family for an extended walkabout of the American West. Intending to rely on no-one except himself and nature, he treks into to the Alaskan wilderness alone for the adventure of a lifetime. Based on a true story.

The Good

• Stunning outdoor scenes, which made me appreciate our nation’s scenic beauty and the warm, desert sunshine. I want to hit the road, albeit more safely.
• Emile Hirsch creates an enigmatic character, looking constantly restless and distracted, even when talking with others, as if planning where to run off next and itching to get there. He’s visibly joyus when alone and experiencing nature to the fullest. Hirsch also tackles a disturbing transformation as McCandless becomes more isolated, insular, and lonely, venturing into Raging Bull or Machinist territory.
• Colorful cast of supporting characters — Chris’s uptight father Walt (William Hurt), innocent admirer Tracy (Kristen Stewart), hippie mother Jan (Catherine Keener), gregarious Wayne (Vince Vaughn), and worried sister Carine (Jena Malone).

The Bad

• McCandless’ is presented as a visionary rather than a misguided individual. Key information from his final experience are omitted — that a mere six miles away from his camp was a cabin with provisions, clearly marked on any topographical map. McCandless lacked common sense — or perhaps didn’t want to be found. I feel this info may have been omitted to paint McCandless in a better light, which is rather unsettling.
• Penn’s direction is rather haphazard — many scenes were shot from various angles and seem edited together randomly.

Conclusion

Into the Wild inspired many odd thoughts — first, wonder as to why an intelligent young man would tempt death so. Youthful idealism and limited experience can lead to over-confidence. McCandless’ own summer excursions and experiences before reaching Alaska likely gave him the dangerous belief he could survive anything. Here’s an excerpt from the original Outside article by John Krakauer that was expanded into the book, Into the Wild:

Before his senior year at Emory he returned from a summer on the road looking gaunt and weak, having shed 30 pounds from his already lean frame; he’d gotten lost in the Mojave Desert, it turned out, and had nearly succumbed to dehydration. … “He thought we were idiots for worrying about him,” [McCandless’s mother] says. “He took pride in his ability to go without food for extended periods, and he had complete confidence that he could get himself out of any jam.”

McCandless also held the idealistic notion that society was of little use to him, and he was better off learning directly from nature. But nature is a harsh, unforgiving place with no rhyme, reason, or fairness, and there’s no reason why you can’t learn from others’ mistakes and have to experience everything first-hand to be truly knowledgeable.

But wilderness survival also contains psychological dangers, because of the human relationships severed in favor of the isolated, vagabond life. All the individuals McCandless meets, despite being isolated from society in various ways, foster or search for human contact. Two hippies are in a van together, Wayne haunts a bar, and Tracy and the old man offer their friendship to McCandless. But he turns them all away.

At worst, McCandless’ journey could have been a death trip — a long, drawn out suicide — a selfish journey by someone who callously ignored the sadness he caused in those who cared about him. Maybe McCandless thought he could find shelter from his childhood neglect in the great outdoors. But that was his biggest mistake — the wilderness doesn’t care if you live or die — only people do, and he left them all behind.

IMDB: Into The Wild
Wikipedia: Into The Wild
Rotten Tomatoes: Into The Wild