the sweet life » Into the Wild

Into the Wild

Oct-12 » Filed Under: Movies & TV » Posted by: Todd

Having read the original book by Jon Krakauer over ten years ago I've been very anxious to see the movie adaptation of Into the Wild. If you're not familiar with the basic story, Into the Wild chronicles the real-life adventures of Christopher McCandless, who graduates from college, cuts off all ties to his rather dysfunctional family and sets off on a 2+ year trek that culminates in a tragic trip into the Alaskan wilderness.

There are critics of both the book and the film who dispute facts and resent the mythologizing of a young man they view as essentially naive and unprepared. I'm sure some of their claims are valid, but I was more interested in the broader issues the author, Krakauer, and the filmmaker, Sean Penn, explored using McCandless as the springboard. As a young man Krakauer embarked on a similar trip to Alaska and survived, so he uses the book as a kind of exploration of, and explanation for, his actions. He saw himself in McCandless. I'm not sure what Penn's motivation was, but his film essentially transforms itself into a philosophical discussion - a discussion about family, forgiveness, happiness and loneliness.

Very few movies have left such a deep impression on me. I don't think everyone will like it, but if you have any interest in the basics of the story I can't recommend this movie highly enough. I got up and kissed both of my sleeping kids (and my sleeping wife) afterwards. Oh, and did I mention the soundtrack features original songs by Eddie Vedder? Provided below are a few resources if you'd like to read/watch more.

(4.5/5 stars)


1 Comments

Karen said:

We saw this moving recently and it haunted me for days. I thought it was very good but very very sad. And I did give my kids an extra kiss before I went to bed that night too.

December 20, 2008 11:03 AM

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