Into The Wild

[Alexandra]

Just heard a snippet on TV about Sean Pean making Into The Woods, anyone else hear about that?

[Arctic]

Into The Wild actually. Based on the book by Jon Krakauer, who also did Under the Banner of Heaven. They premiered it in Fairbanks last September and I was there but chose not to go. It's been well reviewed, but I'm not a big supporter of the idiots in Alaska documentary franchise. (grizzly man, anyone?)

[Charissa]

Arctic... SPOILER ALERT FOR INTO THE WILD

I read the Krakauer book, Into the Wild, and had the same feeling while reading it (mostly what I thought was, "What an idiot" or "Darwin Award Recipient"). However, I did go and see the film (mostly because I had some time to kill one day in the city and this was the only thing playing at that time slot)... and I was surprised that they managed to achieve a more sympathetic approach to the character in the film. I actually felt less annoyed by him in the film and was sad when I knew what would happen to him. I didn't stay to watch him die at the end however. I thought I would spare myself that scene. The cinematography is beautiful. I thought it was worth seeing once.

[Alexandra]

Thanks for the correction! I'll update the topic title.

[Vitiating]

While some may consider Christopher McCandless an idiot, I find the guy to be inspiring and related to him on a deeply profound level.

It's a wonderful movie with some great music (provided by Eddie Veder).

[K]

I actually found the book infinitely superior to the film. I found the film overly long and navel-gazing.

[Serena]

Yes!
I read the book ages ago & found it fascinating.
The film was too dramatic in all the wrong places.

[Tressa]

I thought the book was much better than the movie, but I was surprised at how much I liked the movie. Emile Hirsch did an excellent job portraying Chris McCandless. The death scene was very hard to watch.

What is so painful for me is that at the end he was actually wanting to leave the isolation of the wild and head back to civilization because he realized that connecting and sharing with people can lead to happiness in life. But then he couldn't cross the river and became too sick and weak to make it out.

It was hard to watch what he put his parents and sister through. For them not to know where he was and whether he was alive put their lives on hold for two years. Very wrong of him to do that as punishment for the lives his parents chose to live. Too bad Chris was too young to realize that not everyone is perfect and people sometimes make bad choices in their lives. What the parents chose to put up with from one another was their business, although I can see how it affects their children's opinions about them.

I admire his adventurous spirit and thought he was resourceful most of the time he spent in the "wild." But obviously he did make some mistakes that have led to some people thinking he's an idiot, which is their prerogative but not an opinion shared my all.

[Tressa]

Thanks, Rob. It's good to hear a similar opinion. You should check out the volatile Into the Wild book discussion.

Some adventurers like to push themselves and test themselves by not learning everything possible about the places they're travelling to. This often times means they're unprepared and sometimes they die. Chris was one of these people. He was intelligent enough to know that he should know everything about living "in the wild," but for whatever reason he chose not to and did it on what little he picked up on his travels and instinct.

I've read several mountaineering books about young men (ha ha--never any women) who travel to
Everest without tents, the proper shoes, etc. They know how difficult it is to survive up there and climb the mountain, but they feel that they can borrow what they need or push themselves beyond the limit without the proper equipment and training. When they survive, they're hailed as heroes who know how to tough it out; when they die, they're labelled fools.

Some climbers like Ed Viesturs take measured risks. He knows how difficult climbing is, but he learns everything there is to know and he turns back when he knows he won't be able to make it. He doesn't like to test himself to the point of death.

I don't know why men push themselves like this, but they do.

[Sherry]

Well i can't say that I think he was an idiot,but I didn't find him very heroic either.My pervailing feeling is that it was sadly a life cut too short missing the opportunity for wisdom and insight I felt sure he would have gained had he had the time and chance.I couldn't help but wonder what he may have acheived had he survived and would he have ever tried that again or become one of the many who feel so passionately against it.I thought that he was very young,very human,with strengths and weaknesses in his character that lead him to be in the predicament that led to his death.Very sad for him and his family.Very good movie

[Alison]

Arctic (Heather) said: "It's been well reviewed, but I'm not a big supporter of the idiots in Alaska documentary franchise." Haha! Will they be selling those as a boxed set?? (Yeah, I'm late to the game on this one).

I enjoyed this film. I thought McCandless's philosophies were sound, and inspiring...just taken to an unfortunate extreme. His story was well-worth telling, though, and I enjoyed living out his little odyssey with him. (From the comfort of my couch--without the sleeping in caves, the eating of the berries, etc.) I want to read this book, and visit/re-visit some of the other authors he was shown reading in the film (Tolstoy, London, Thoreau).

Beautiful cinematography as well. The images really stayed with me...as well as the music.