INTO THE WILD non-review

[thehefner]

So I saw INTO THE WILD last night.

I still can't quite decide whether or not Christopher/Alexander was a self-righteous judgmental douchebag, perhaps another Timothy "Grizzly Man" Treadwell (and even if he was, if that takes away from the film or not), nor do I know how much Sean Penn honestly wanted to romanticize and mythologize the kid, or if the film's manipulative nature (aren't they all manipulative, though?) was good or bad... and ultimately, I don't know how much I'm supposedly to separate the film from the person, because I'm honestly not certain how I feel about either.

Although I'm leaning towards positive for the latter and negative towards the former. Yes, it's admirable to not let others define your life, that there are alternatives, that the way to happiness doesn't have to be in a suit and tie or tied to a career or to success. That happiness is in the world around you and the people living in it, and the love you have for them and they have for you. He certainly could be viewed as an inspirational model for that.

At the same time, I kinda want to make an Alexander Supertramp macro: "UR DOIN IT RONG."

But I dunno, I still haven't made up my mind yet.

What I do know is that I wish Werner Herzog just wandered into the film and gave McCandless a softly poetic German bitchslap. the_mithril_man had a good point when he suggested Herzog do a RiffTrax commentary on INTO THE WILD. I'd so pay to hear that.

"The boy is a suicidal fool, and I wish I could reach into the screen and tell him so, but I know too well that I cannot. The only common character of the universe is not harmony, but hostility, chaos and murder. Nature is brutal. Nature is indifferent. Nature will swallow you whole and destroy you without a second thought. On the other hand, Hal Holbrook was pretty good."

Comments

[kagome654.livejournal.com]

Well, at least Alexander Supertramp didn't take anyone down with him as Timothy Treadwell did, so I'm willing to be more respectful of his lifestyle choices in that respect. I mean sure, Alexander was ill-informed and it killed him, but the almost misanthropic view of humanity and romanticism of nature I can 'get,' the anthropomorphism of a 1,500 lb carnivore isn't something I can even begin to understand.

Unfortunately I haven't seen 'Into the Wild' (and have only read a few excerpts from the book) so I have nothing to add.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Very, very good points.

That's the main difference between the two that I'd missed: with Treadwell, it was about making connections with something, whereas with McCandless, he wanted absolutely no connections whatsoever. This ties into his epiphany at the end, which ultimately made me go, "... huh, I think that's the key moment that makes this whole film work for me."

But I dunno, do we not constantly see people anthropomorphize their dogs and cats? Throw a healthy dose of crazy in the mix, and I can kinda understand Treadwell.

Today's episode...

[metalcrowe.livejournal.com]

...of “Match that title to something mostly unrelated” has me humming in my head parts of 30 Seconds to Mars's “The Mission”

I have nothing further to add. Nothing of consequence, anyway. And really, this comment is kinda random. But here's to random useless bits of information.

[fishymcb.livejournal.com]

Two points:

1) Eddie Vedder RULES! WHOOO! *chugs beer* Seriously though, when I went to see No Country for Old Men, the Loews Theatre was playing the pre-movie ads and trivia questions, and they must have played the song "Society" four times. But didn't let us know the title (Obv. I knew who sung it.) I had to go home and Google that sucker.

2) Thanks for the Seymour icon on a Friday, you sonofabitch.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I took that one as a ticking time bomb expressly for you.

To make up for it, I have this.

[fishymcb.livejournal.com]

...We are sated.

[swimpenguin.livejournal.com]

Sometimes we all need a softly poetic German bitchslap.

Into the Wild was actually one of my top five favorite movies of the year. As for whether Chris McCandless was the immature brat who walked into the wilderness completely unprepared for no good reason and selfishly cut himself off from his family, or the pure soul who wanted to live life on his own terms amidst nature, I think he was both. We all do things for the noblest and most petty of reasons, and with McCandless, I think it's possible to feel both ways about him at different times, I felt that way watching the movie, and even moreso reading the book. Jon Krakauer, who wrote the book, admits in the beginning that he has an affinity of shared experience with McCandless of being a youth with uncontrollable passion in his soul for nature (there's a point where Krakauer describes a scenario where he too was reckless and could have very possibly died, but maybe luck was on his side), but that said, he goes on to give an fair view of McCandless, seeing the positive and negative emotions his passions drove him to-likewise in Sundance Channnel's Iconoclasts episode with Krakeur and Sean Penn, they have an interesting statement where they talk about how both of them specifically understand why McCandless did what he did (they're saying this on a pilgrimage to the bus site), and not everyone can. One thing I thought the movie did very well dramatically was how McCandless had an opportunity and a desire to "make" new families with the people he met, to make relationships, but his passions that were such a vibrant part of him drove him to foolishly shove anyone away once he got too close to them. I think one of the reasons I liked it so much is that it stirred up so much different emotions in me-seeing the spot on locations of where he traveled in the film, and the joy and zeal that he (as Emile Hirsch) played him, was intoxicating; the way he grew close and then rejected the varying people he met was angrily heartbreaking; and of course the Alaska sections just drew me into further sinking feeling. I actually sat there in stunned silence for over a minute or so when the credits had finished.
And I loved that damn Eddie Vedder soundtrack, but oddly I still think that was one movie that shouldn't have had any music in it. It felt like the outside world intruding on him in his nature getaway.