I've wanted to see it the premiere night but now that I did, Into the Wild (the movie) was not bad...not bad at all. Forrest Gump still holds a special place in my heart although Into the Wild has moved me as did the scene when Forrest found out Jenny was going to die. The movie moved slowly, unfolding gorgeous scenes all over the United States and part of Mexico. It does not fail to capture the admiration of the audience right off the bat, and the snow scene is winter wonderland all over again--well, until tragedies happen, of course.

The character that played the role of Chris McCandless was whom I pictured all along. Emile Hirsch was perfect in every way possible as he managed to act realistically with matching eye dilation and crazy-out-of-his-mind budding individual crying his lungs out of starvation and in the end, death. A real-life story of Chris McCandless, his character was positively formidable and one that readers and audience alike would love to hate but could not. This young man was not only admirable to achieve separation from material things but also an inspiration to many whom hearts are broken by human/parental relationships. After graduating in Emery University, Chris decided to take the biggest and the last trip of his life--he was to hitch hike from Virginia to Alaska with a different name (Alexander Supertramp) and as much as possible, no real identification and relation to his parents. Along the course of seemingly a lifetime of memories, he met extraordinary people that taught him wisdom and survival tips he was going to need to his "Great Alaskan Adventure".

The director, Sean Penn portrayed these events with 4 different metaphorical chapters as if watching a book and to each has its own titles too. All the chapters were, of course, viewed with less conversations and more documentary-like manner. It was the perfect example of combined artistry, music and film that not many people my age would get into. For one, there were no definite plot and although the story line suceeded gracefully, the story would be hard to follow for those who didn't read the book yet. The main gist of this movie is the adventure itself while narrated by the very sweet and soft spoken Jenna Malone who speak now and then as, probably a reminder that Into the Wild IS a movie not just long runs of cinematography and favorable acoustic from Eddie Vedder. But it was more than gorgeous shots, it was just like the remarkable book by John Krakeur: a poignant narration than can move anyone who wants to be affected. The interactions between the actors were as human as it can possibly can and the settings helped cultivate the raw and organic feel of the movie. Yes! The life of Chris McCandless was portrayed as genuine as possible. It made me feel like I've watched what happened to him in real life and understood wholey his motives of taking such risky contingency. And if that wasn't enough, Into the Wild was also thoughtful because if you look carefully, you'll see, hear and feel the one great lesson individuals should learn, "happiness is only real when shared".

P.S. Hands down to Hal Holbrook's performance as Ron Franz. He gave a tear, I gave mine.

Labels: biasly criticizing, movies, reviews

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