INTO THE WILD

(Paramount Vantage)
Runtime: 150 min

"Death's a fierce meadowlark but to die having made something more equal to centuries than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness. The mountains are dead stone, the people Admire or hate their stature, their insolent quietness, the mountains are not softened or troubled and a few dead men's thoughts have the same temper."

-From the last post of Chris McCandless journal-

I always had a dream of this sort of journey, where we turn our back on our so called hedonistic society and march our way towards the wilderness to celebrate the unity of a simple man with the unforgiving nature. That was a dream I had between awake and sleep, the dream to view society as objectively as it can from the outside.

Fueled by Tolstoy, Thoreau and Yeats, Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a young man raised in an upper class family discarded his entire existence so he could make his way to Alaska and survive in a society of untamed solitude.

What was to be seen is breathtaking, dozens or more postcard like scene of the beautiful American wilderness and a journey of one man against all odds.

Powered by flashbacks to provide a back story, Sean Penn didn’t paint Chris as a near perfect hero. When finally Chris already reached his goal: the unspoiled Alaskan wilderness, perhaps he find himself and be a happy man. Surely this sort of journey is very interesting, how one person with a wide privilege decide to turn his back against civilization and try to find himself in the most extreme situation.

It is said that in road movies, the journey is what matters, not the destination. For Chris this is what he wants all his life, to be away from the cage of materialism. It is a physical journey that will make you appreciate the nature more and recognize the spiritual journey inside. It is also a film that inspires you to become a better person.

Still, after the movie ends, the idea of living alone in the wild is very seductive; perhaps we can found something inside us we never realize exist at all. But does everybody need to get through what Chris had been through? Appreciating the nature, unlocking our soul from the madding crowd and do whatever it takes to prevent Global Warming? Yes, but unplanned journey fired up only with idealism and no serious plan to survive? No, since what is the use of a journey if you have to die because of starvation? We don’t have to die to appreciate life objectively. Besides, in my humble opinion, wouldn’t it be nice to share the beauty of this world with someone you love instead of enjoying it alone?