Chris McCandless, the real-life protagonist of Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild”, is full of himself. Brave and foolish, he sets out to leave behind society (which is, of course, repressive, bad for you, limiting, etc we’ve heard it all before) to find himself (at least that inane phrase isn’t used in this film) and his true purpose in nature. Shortly after graduating, McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch) sets off to Alaska for a life of solitude, at least for a while, accompanied only by his favourite books (Thoreau, Jack London). En route he meets some colourful characters including Catherine Keener’s hippie, Vince Vaughn’s agriculturalist and, heartbreakingly, Hal Holbrook’s elderly Ron.
McCandless reminded me a little of Timothy Treadwell (of course McCandless doesn’t exhibit anything close to the bear-man’s psychopathology) and the story isn’t fresh but to excite matters Penn presents the film as a series of chapters, intercut with McCandless already living in Alaska. The film is anchored by a strong physical and psychological performance by Hirsch, who makes McCandless believable but not heroic. Penn effectively exploits the breathtaking Alaskan nature to contrast it with the dull urbania McCandless flees from (he’s actually fleeing from his parents, but that’s another story).
“Into the Wild” is an imperfect film (it is overlong and early on too in love with framing McCandless/Hirsch), but it is an intelligent and well crafted movie. If nothing else, it makes you want to (re)visit Walden and start growing your own potatoes
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