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Author
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Topic: Into the Wild (2007)
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Stu Jamieson
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 524
From: Buccan, Qld, Australia
Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 03-13-2008 09:51 AM
I guess I'll have to be the dissenter then....... ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
In 2005 Werner Herzog released his film Grizzly Man, a documentary about the well-intentioned but ultimately incompetent nature lover, Timothy Treadwell, who thrust himself into the wilderness harbouring the delusion that if he nurtured the environment, then nature would repay his compassion in kind. Of course, nature did nothing of the sort, ferociously seizing the upper hand when he least expected it, his fate being horribly swift and final. Treadwell clearly wasn't the first to attempt this stunt. About 10 years previous, Christopher McCandless also hurled himself into the wilderness albeit for different reasons but with no less catastrophic results and his journey forms the subject of Sean Penn's latest directorial (and writing) effort.
The main problem with this film is that Penn presents McCandless as a noble anti-materialist warrior going forth "into the wild to destroy the false being within, to conclude the spiritual revolution, to escape the poison of civilisation". That's great, so far so hippy, but the truth is that McCandless engineered his own demise through his own selfishness, incompetence and stupidity. What is amazing is not that he survived the challenges of nature but that he survived them for so long. That he does all this against the sincere advice of those who love him makes it difficult to feel sympathy for him. The rub is that Penn attempts to romanticise his journey in the mould of some kind of righteous hippy idealism but ultimately it's a shallow appeal. There does, however, seem to be a glimmer of hope towards the end of the film when McCandless finally wakes up to himself and realises that "happiness is only real when shared" but his imminent demise does not allow him to articulate this sentiment to those who loved him and he is therefore robbed of his opportunity for redemption. In a way, this merely serves as his final act of selfishness and we like him even less as a result.
A change of narrative structure could improve the film somewhat, focusing more on the positive influences McCandless had on the lives of those who entered his paisley orbit rather than culminating in the negativity of his pointless demise. If ever there was a candidate for showing the end of the story at the beginning then this is it (not that I'm an advocate of that mechanism).
On the bright side, Penn has produced a very well crafted film; a laid back frolic through some spectacular picture postcard locations; a film about the yearning for a better, simpler life which at many points threatens to win us over. The performances are excellent particularly Emile Hirsch in the lead role and Hal Holbrook as an aging loner. But everyone is good: Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener and Vince Vaughn in a refreshingly straight role.
On the whole this is a frustrating picture. It's an interesting story (if a little long-winded) brilliantly performed and beautifully shot but it's central message seems horribly misguided.
7 out of 10.
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