Into The Wild
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Into The Wild
Yet another film directed by an actor for the very first time, it seems like a lot of actors nowadays are finding a different form of reward behind the camera than before it. Into the Wild is a film directed by actor Sean Penn, an adaptation from a book by Jon Krakauer of the same name. Sean Penn is definitely more experienced as an actor, being nominated for four times and winning once at the Academy Awards, but never a lot of recognition as a director at all. This time, with a powerful and moving material at hand, Sean Penn has crafted a film that should be pleasing to anybody out there, to inspire and be touched by the sheer scale and depth of the plot. It is difficult to go wrong with a plot as straightforward as Into the Wild, but director Sean Penn decided to go from a perspective that isn't exactly straightforward. He adopted a lot of different techniques and styles that were impressive in certain shots but a little pretentious and self-important in others. Before the critic happens, here's what the story is all about.
Yet another film directed by an actor for the very first time, it seems like a lot of actors nowadays are finding a different form of reward behind the camera than before it. Into the Wild is a film directed by actor Sean Penn, an adaptation from a book by Jon Krakauer of the same name. Sean Penn is definitely more experienced as an actor, being nominated for four times and winning once at the Academy Awards, but never a lot of recognition as a director at all. This time, with a powerful and moving material at hand, Sean Penn has crafted a film that should be pleasing to anybody out there, to inspire and be touched by the sheer scale and depth of the plot. It is difficult to go wrong with a plot as straightforward as Into the Wild, but director Sean Penn decided to go from a perspective that isn't exactly straightforward. He adopted a lot of different techniques and styles that were impressive in certain shots but a little pretentious and self-important in others. Before the critic happens, here's what the story is all about.
Into the Wild tells the story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a smart and brilliant college graduate from Emory University, running away from the comfort of his home and living his real life out in the wild, spending two years with completely no money on his body or a map to tell him where to go, he traveled up and down the west coast of America until he decided to head all the way up to Alaska to live there forever. This is based on a true story, by the way, and primarily through secondhand accounts from Christopher's sister, Carine (Jena Malone), and his parents Billie and Walt McCandless (Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt). Along the way, Chris meets up with various interesting characters that helped him along his journey, people like Jan Burres (Catherine Keener), Wayne Westerburg (Vince Vaughn), Tracy (Kristen Stewart) and Ron Franz (Hal Holbrook) to name a few. Despite the all-star cast and the sheer number of characters, this film is still essentially Christopher's journey out into the wild, and living out there away from the life he has grown so disgusted and weary of.
The movie begins with Christopher in Alaska, finding an abandoned bus in the middle of nowhere, and for the next two months or so, he called it the Magic Bus, his home. He made notes while he stayed there, which was how the author of the book derived most of his details from. From his notes and in turn the film, we saw as Christopher's optimism for his journey slowly disintegrated into darker territories, and how his sanity slowly diminished as he ran out of food and human company out in the wilderness. The film does a great job at examining Chris's mentality throughout the journey, and it is easy to tell that a lot of care for details was being put into what must have went through his mind. From a mindless teenager that ran away from home, we start to understand and sympathize with his situation because of how his parents constantly argued with each other and 'lived in a world of lies', as Chris put it in the film. Then from there, we start to understand his general view of life, why he did the things he did, and then how he slowly became a person who understood his actions and eventually regretted them somehow towards the end of his life.
As mentioned before, Sean Penn attempted to use a lot of different directorial styles for this film. You get the kind of feeling you get with indie films for a while, then it sort of feels like a documentary, then it goes into an art house film for a moment before it dives right back into convention. It is very interesting to see various styles being presented onto the screen, but I felt that the direction of the director was rather rough on the edges, and I felt as if he never really knew what he wanted with the film. The film never really takes off, never soaring to a climax, but always on a slow and treacherous journey as it follows the footsteps of Chris to Alaska. It isn't a bad thing, but the film, to me, was a little too long because the director tried to fit too many aspects of the story into the film. At over 150 minutes in its running length, it felt like the film wanted to be too many things, and all of them contradicted and compromised one another that none of the styles really shone through. But still, it was a minor mistake, considering how the powerful script and the story itself more than made up for it.
The destination is hardly the point of a journey, but the journey itself. Into the Wild very skillfully portrayed that, but taking the attention away from the destination itself - Alaska - and dedicating the majority of the time to the journey there. The intriguing aspect of the film was definitely Chris and what he stood for in his own life, other than proving himself as worthy of the word 'life' and somebody running away from his own home. It is a little hard to root for Chris because he almost always came across the screen as this arrogant teenager, always full of ideas and perhaps a little pompous in a way. I never actually liked him as a person, but I was certainly inspired by his impulsiveness, the way he just packed up and left the comforts of his life. The film very effectively provided us with this anti-hero, this not-so likable character whom we can relate to in a way, but not completely root for. Which makes his character even more interesting than he already is, given the complexities of his mind and actions.
The film provides the answer to the kind of questions we ask ourselves from time to time, the ultimate "what if" question, the possibility of leaving everything behind and starting life from scratch. To be the richest when you are the poorest, the idea of it all seems so romantic and poetic. This film is the answer to all those questions, told through the real life story of a teenager that lived his life out there in the wild and died out there in the wild. Some may argue that he was just a naive teenager who didn't do his homework. After all, he did die from consuming the wrong kind of berries, when he really should have known better. In terms of that, Sean Penn did a great job in not trying to craft his main character into this heroic figure of sorts, a character without his flaws. He showed his weaknesses, he showed his doubts. And that to me is what appealed to me in a way, to know that he really is just an ordinary person with a big dream.
In terms of the performance, Emile Hirsch certainly did a great job in expressing the internal struggles Christopher went through, especially towards the end of the movie when he started to doubt his own actions, and the frustration of starvation and the realization of his inevitable death. It was surprising, on my part, to see such a breadth in terms of his abilities, especially when his resume does not boast a lot of films which required a lot of skills. This is essentially Emile's film, with him carrying the show most of the time. He pulled the role off flawlessly, and definitely to my great surprise. The supporting cast did a good job, though it isn't even half as surprising. Here we have multiple Oscar nominees and winners all gathered into one movie, but the best performance probably came from Hal Holbrook, who is nominated for his role as the lonely old man that lost his wife and son long ago. His story and interaction with Chris was probably the most moving and touching aspect of the film than maybe even the journey itself.
In some ways, Into the Wild is more than just a tale about a teenager fulfilling his dreams, and even more than a cautionary tale for teenagers out there with a wild ambition and haven't a concrete plan. In more subtle ways, it is a cautionary tale about our materialism, our politics, our governments, and so many aspects of our society eating up what should be considered as our absolute truth of life. The truth about life, which eluded even Chris until the end of the film, is about living a life that involves the kind of happiness that is shared with others, not the kind you live with yourself. Into the Wild is a powerful tale with a poignant message, and it is definitely a force to be reckoned with for most. To me, it was a film that bordered on goodness and greatness, and I think it could have been done better with a different director. Still, aside from the stylistic mess, the power of the story and the performance eventually won me over.
8.5/10
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on Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 12:48 AM.
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