The
idea of getting away from it all and communing with nature in
order to achieve a kind of transcendence is a deep-seated one.
It’s something that inspired writers like Henry David
Thoreau and Jack London. Indeed, if you know your Bible, you’ll
recall that even Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days
and 40 nights. All these elements are referenced in this Sean
Penn’s beautiful-looking but tedious Into the Wild,
now available on DVD
This is an odd film, at least in my opinion. It wants to revel
in the majesty of nature, but it isn’t a nature film and
the final scenes are seemingly at odds with its core narrative.
It desperately wants us to like its protagonist, Christopher
McCandless a.k.a. Alexander Supertramp (played by Emile Hirsch);
yet it plays out in such a way that I was left only with the
impression that he was a self-absorbed brat. It wants us to
find in McCandless’s journey a spiritual purity, yet the
script is as manipulative as a lawyer’s letter.
As the title suggests, the film is about McCandless’s
journey into the wilderness in the years 1990-92. The film opens
with him already at his intended destination – Alaska.
Tramping through the snow-covered landscape near Fairbanks,
he finds an abandoned bus, and makes it his home. We then flash
back to 1990, when he graduates from Emory University in Atlanta.
He indicates to his perhaps overbearing parents (John Hurt and
Marcia Gay Harden) that he’s hoping to go to Harvard;
something they heartily endorse. But instead of going to Boston,
McCandless sends his savings to charity, jumps in his car and
disappears. McCandless’s sister Carine (Jena Malone) acts
as narrator and explains that he is distraught about revelations
about his parents’ past, as well as his father’s
explosive temper. After reaching Arizona, McCandless loses his
car and sets out on foot. He encounters a variety of people
across the American West, including hippies Rainey (Brian Dierker)
and Jan (Catherine Keener); shady wheat farmer Wayne (Vince
Vaughn); nubile singer Tracy (Kristen Stewart) and retiree Ron
(Hal Holbrook).
The film is based on Jon Krakauer’s book of the same
name about the real Christopher McCandless. For reasons that
become obvious in the film, just how much of the book is accurate
and how much is reconstruction or simply fiction is debatable.
It seems the film sticks pretty closely to the book, but that
in itself can’t save it.
A key difficulty with the script (written by Penn) is that
it’s transparently very calculating when it comes to the
audience’s reactions to McCandless. If the story is to
be believed, McCandless has travelled the US, Christ-like, dispensing
his wisdom to those he encounters, who are in turn eternally
grateful to him for having graced their otherwise humdrum lives.
The fact that his “wisdom” is gleaned essentially
from the pages of Tolstoy and could therefore be considered
blatant plagiarism isn’t explored.
Nor does Penn ever level any real criticism at the central
character, despite the fact that his disappearance devastates
both his parents (whom he doesn’t like) and his sister
(whom he does). The fact that his actions in doing so are incredibly
self-centred – a trend that continues throughout his journey
– seems to have escaped the director’s notice, as
he continues to bombard us with shots of McCandless being kind
to puppies or staring wistfully to the vast horizon.
Given
that the film is essentially about discovering your true self,
that lack of reflexion or insight seems a strange omission.
In fact, when McCandless’s moment of true self-discovery
occurs, it’s again from the pages of a book. You’d
think that an epic journey of the kind portrayed in the film
would produce something better than the mere recitation of a
passage that could just as easily have been read on the porch
at home.
On the other hand, Eric Gautier’s cinematography is exquisite
(virtually the whole film was shot on location), providing some
truly memorable moments; while the soundtrack, primarily by
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame, sets off the action well.
Emile Hirsch garnered a deal of buzz for his performance as
McCandless; but missed out on an Oscar nomination. Certainly,
he undergoes a remarkable physical transformation through the
film and he displays a kind of easy charm that sits very well
with the character. Given the way the film is structured, Hirsch
appears in virtually every scene, making it difficult for any
of the other actors to get a look in. One who does to good effect
is Brian Dierker as aging hippie Rainey, providing one of the
film’s rare moments of humour. Kristen Stewart gets a
few good moments as Tracy; while it’s great to see the
evergreen Hal Holbrook (Wall Street, among many others)
back on the big screen.
Although I can see how many could like Into the Wild,
the film simply didn’t click with me. Perhaps I’m
being too cynical or analytical, but very little about it rang
true. It’s certainly stunning to look at, is well-acted
and its technical elements are spot-on; but the story is so
sophomoric and handled in such a manipulating way, that it really
distanced me. I guess it could therefore be considered to be
deeply shallow.
David Edwards
