There is a moment in the middle of Sean Penn’s marvelous new film Into the Wild where the film’s protagonist, Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), stares thoughtfully out at the Pacific Ocean at sunset. Then, for a brief moment, we see dozens of gawking seagulls flapping their wings in slow motion just inches above the crest of a towering wave. It’s an awe-inspiring moment that captures the essence of the film and the enigmatic McCandless, an idealistic yet wise-beyond-his-years wanderer searching for truth in nature.
Simply put, Into the Wild is the type of film that will inspire and change those who are searching for truth. It’s a bold statement backed up by a bold film. Based on John Krakauer’s best selling novel non-fiction book of the same name, Penn’s film perfectly captures the wanderlust spirit of the book and the great road narratives of the Beat Generation.
The film follows McCandless just as he graduates with honors from Emory University. A child of privilege, McCandless has everything he wants at his finger tips: Harvard Law School, a new car, and a bank account with over $24,000. For most graduates, it would be an ideal situation, but for McCandless the money and achievements are simply obstructions to his true calling: the wild.
Without telling his parents, McCandless donates his savings to Oxfam and begins to travel America, picking up odd jobs along the way with the end goal of traveling north to untamed wilderness of Alaska. Along the way he encounters various characters who mold and shape his worldview.
Emile Hirsch is an absolute revelation in the physically and emotionally challenging role of McCandless. The star of such past duds as The Girl Next Door and The Lords of Dogtown, Hirsch commands every moment he’s onscreen in a performance that’s both complex and contradictory while still managing to be likable. It’s a gutsy, inspirational accomplishment that will likely elevate the young actor from indie obscurity into the forefront of Hollywood leading men.
While Hirsch shines brightly, he’s only illuminated further by the vast array of supporting performances peppered throughout the film. There’s Vince Vaughn who’s hilarious as a good natured wheat farmer; Zach Galifianakis who’s unrecognizable in a short yet fantastic performance as one of Vaughn’s bumbling workers; Catherine Keener who’s sweet and endearing an aging hippie with motherly affections for Hirsch’s character; and Kristen Stewart who delivers a surprisingly mature performance as a teenage songstress who falls in love with Chris during their stay in a trailer park.
But it’s the legendary Hal Holbrook who truly steals the show as a reclusive leather worker who was the last to spend time with McCandless before venturing alone into the Alaskan wilderness. Holbrook breaks your heart with a performance so nuanced and true it would be a crime to not see him honored with several supporting actor trophies during this year’s award season. There is one scene in particular where Holbrook’s character offers to adopt McCandless that even forced this hard-hearted movie reviewer to shed a couple of tears.
The film is scored by reclusive rock icon Eddie Vedder who contributes several original songs to the film. Vedder’s weathered voice and sparse instrumentation are the perfect compliment to cinematographer Eric Gautier’s stunning imagery.
And At the helm of this cinematic ship is screenwriter/director Sean Penn, who passionately crafts his film with such visual grace and understanding of character and theme it’s surprising to remember this is only Penn’s fourth time in the director’s chair. As a director it’s always challenging to find the right balance between visuals, music, performance, and story, and Penn has masterfully captured all of the elements into one of the most satisfying and inspiring motion pictures in years.
And of course, there’s that burning image of the seagulls dancing just above the white foam of the wave. It’s nature as Christopher McCandless saw it: wild, uninhibited and inspiring.
Comments
Just to give you a heads-up, Into The Wild is a work of non-fiction, rather than a novel, which would be fiction. Krakauer doesn’t write fiction, to the best of my knowledge, although he is probably one of the best non-fiction writers around. Into the Wild is a great book, as it were. Just something to think about.
Thanks for the heads up. We’ve amended the article.