A classic film on the outdoors, Sean Penn’s Into the Wild never fails to amuse. A bit dated, Penn’s take of Jon Krakauer’s account of Christopher McCandless’ life and untimely demise is filled with artistically crafted cinematography and literary voiceovers reflecting on how man needs their fix of nature as much as possible. The film obviously is about Christopher McCandless – the famous/reviled (depending on perspective) figure that camped in the Alaskan wilderness where he eventually died.
It starts of in medias res where we get to see McCandless already scrounging for sustenance in the wild. This first few minutes of the film is inspiring at first because it doesn’t see the rigours and hardships that McCandless in undertaking. This is also our first time to see Emile Hirsch portraying the titular character in a whimsical, yet appealing way. It feels as if Hirsch transformed into more than just an Icarus but also became a person of substance – with his reading, his knowledge of the outdoors and of course the historic bus where he made his stand.
Then it all backtracks — to the day when McCandless called it quits on our rat-race world. The transition is very subtle, and slow, kind of like an easing in until it hits the audience straight that this is indeed where it began. We see a young man, that tries his very best to veer away from society, sort of in a lone wolf manner. This introduction to McCandless’ deviation from the norm is very powerful as it rings true to a majority of outdoorsmen and women when they’re sitting in their desks from nine to five yearning for their next big adventure. Suffice to say, the moment Christopher steps out and starts life on his pursuit for the great outdoors, everybody else who is watching followed suit.
What is notable with the film is as mentioned above, the cinematography. The film is riddled with macro shots of flowers as well as symmetrically poignant scenes in McCandless’ journey such as eating an apple, taking a kayak, or even just standing on top of a rock whilst reading a novel. The film’s visual appeal is timeless, the narrative more so.
The film speaks of a truth about the outdoors in quite an unorthodox way. It gives it to the audience as raw and unadultered as can be as it shows the protagonist swinging in the balance between happy and trying hard. One such example of this is the kayaking scene where he enjoys the ride on the first leg and then eventually has to negotiate with border patrol because he passed the US-Mexico border unknowingly. McCandless gets to realize a lot of things throughout the film and I believe he goes through the entire spectrum of humanity with this. He experiences music, art, consumerism and eventually, the exhilaration of being outdoors.
At the end of it all, what is amazing with the film is that it does not make it seem tragic but rather portraying it as the protagonist good bye to life of learning and the sometimes. Yes, the ending may appear to be a bit climactic but this lesson is given to the audience as gentle as can be as McCandless wraps himself up in his sleeping bag. Some lessons have to be learned the hard way.
Up until now, people are mixed when regarding this man – what he did, and why he did it. But I think, he has inspired a lot of people with his fate. After all, he was just someone aching to get away from it all and who would say that isn’t true with everyone who’s craving for their outdoor fix on the weekends?
Film: Into the Wild
Director: Sean Penn
Producer: Sean Penn, Art Linson and Bill Pohlad
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Kristen Stewart, Catherine Keener, Brian H. Dierker and Hal Holbrook
Words By: Keith Perena
Photos By: Paramount Vantage
