#194: Into the Wild

Into the Wild (2007)
Directed by Sean Penn
Screenplay by Sean Penn
Based on the book by Jon Krakauer
Starring Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Jena Malone, Hal Holbrook

Anyone with an inherent desire to leave home, to just get up and leave will love Into the Wild.

Despite the tragic circumstances to which the film is based, it represents hope and longing to belong to a different code than capitalist North America. It's about self discovery, understanding of the universe or at least the attempt. It's about freedom, and the fallout of achieving your dreams.

And it's beautiful to boot.

Everything works. The soundtrack by Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam), the performances and especially the cinematography. Penn did with this movie what Chris McCandless (Hirsch) would likely have wanted. He stripped it away from society went into the wild to understand where McCandless was coming from.

Into the Wild could not have been filmed on a soundstage. For it to be worth its salt, it needed to feel real. And the best way to accomplish that is to be real.


AAfter reading Krakauer's book, the film is still just as breathtaking as it was the first time I saw it, but the book was superior as is often the case. It's worth picking up for anyone who wants a great story or is thinking of going off the grid.

I was bumbling through Halifax when it was released. Without anything to do for a few hours I popped into the Spring Garden movie theatre to see what was playing. I walked in five minutes before it started and figured it was meant to be.

I was the only person in the theatre, I think it was a Saturday afternoon late in its run, and it felt even more intimate because I was in a cavernous theatre all by myself watching a very personal film.

It was a powerful two hours.

While I'm not the biggest fan of Penn as an actor (though Spicoli does rule) he really hit this out of the park.