Into the Wild

[Ava]

I watched the movie today and all I can really say is "wow." It was an absolutely amazing movie, and probably the best movie I've seen this year(if not in several years). The movie is about the real adventures of Christopher McCandless. In a nutshell(via wikipedia): Into the Wild tells the adventures of Christopher McCandless, a top student at Emory University and an athlete. After graduating, McCandless decides to give $24,000 of his savings account to Oxfam and later, to burn all the money in his wallet. He hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wild. During his adventure, he encounters several unique people that change his life before he faces the dangers of wilderness.

Absolutely all of the actors and actresses in the film did an absolutely phenomenal job, the direction was beautiful, and the story of course was inspiring and heart wrenching at the same time.

SEE IT!

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. It's in the Netflix queue.

We've got Lust, Caution, Gone Baby Gone, and Across the Universe at home now. Into the Wild is next.

By the way, did you see Once? That was probably our favorite from last year.

[bigwillq]

2. I want to see it.

I will have to rent it.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. What I love most about this movie

is that Sean Penn actually came to Alaska to film it, despite expense and hardship. Most movies about Alaska are filmed in British Columbia or Washington, and they just don't LOOK like Alaska. This one is the real deal.

[ForrestGump]

4. Excellent movie...

I saw it as an inflight movie (Air Canada flight that gave a choice of movies, for free, via seatback monitor...more proof that the real Third World airlines, US flag carriers, suck beyond all description in comparison with others around the world) and it kept me riveted all the way back to Las Vegas. It's been years since I read the Krakmeister's book, but I vaguely recall having both empathy for Supertramp's quest and travails and thinking he was a complete idiot. I grew up with a strong and sustained dose of outdoorsmanship and a background in bush survival skills that's doubtless permanently ingrained and, though I'd not be especially at home in Alaska's wilds, I can't help but agree with many of the locals thereabouts who might consider him tragically stupid. On the other hand, I can very much identify with some of his thoughts about life, freedom, and the wilderness, even if I thought many of them were extremely idealistic -- far beyond a level sustainable in reality -- and terminally naive.

Either way, though, it's a sad story. I think Sea Penn's movie idealizes it all a bit, in that it takes the side of the wilderness romantic -- he's almost a Jesus figure, albeit with some glimpses offered in to his fatal weaknesses -- but that didn't bother me at all because it was so beautifully shot, so perfectly acted, so flawlessly written, and in general just a very powerful piece of film that says a lot about Nature and much more about humanity and what is really important. Given that most Hollywood 'true stories' bear almost no resemblance to actual events, it's hard to criticize the editorial slant of this movie 'cos it's just such a wonderful piece of work, and would be just as much so if the events were wholly fictional.