Into the Wild

United States

2007

148 Min

Color

2.35:1

Danish, English

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
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PROD Sean Penn, Art Linson, William Pohlad

CAST Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook, Zach Galifianakis, Thure Lindhardt, Merritt Wever, Signe Egholm Olsen

MUSIC Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder

Toronto (Special Presentations), Telluride, London (Gala), São Paulo: Audience Award, Stockholm (American Independents)

Synopsis

Sean Penn is back behind the camera withan adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s bestselling nonfiction book Into the Wild. Emile Hirsch plays top student Christopher McCandless, who after graduating from Emory University in 1992, leaves his belongings, donates his savings to charity and sets off on a classic journey into the American West. He plans to hitchhike to Alaska and live in freedom and harmony with nature. But it’s a long way to travel and a lot harder than Christopher imagined. With a bright future in law school, why did he leave? That’s the question his family puzzles as they grapple with his shocking death. But there seems to be no answer, only a seeker who believes that truth and meaning wait for him in Alaska. Into the Wild is one of Penn’s best efforts as a director. Hirsch – known from movies such as The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys and Lords of Dogtown – is a natural. Together,they poignantly portray the young wayfarer’s struggle with the ambiguous demands of modern society and his desire to break away and live in utopian freedom. –Stockholm International Film Festival

Director

Sean Penn

Powerhouse film performer capable of intensely moving work who has gone from strength to strength during a colourful film career, and who has drawn much media attention for his stormy private life and political viewpoints, California-born Sean Penn is the second son of actress Eileen Ryan & director Leo Penn, also brother of Chris Penn. He first appeared in roles as strong-headed or unruly youths such as the military cadet defending his academy against closure in Taps (1981), then as fast-talking surfer stoner Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).

Fans and critics were enthused about his obvious talent and he next contributed a stellar performance alongside Timothy Hutton in the Cold War spy thriller The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), followed by a teaming with icy Christopher Walken in the chilling At Close Range (1986). The youthful Sean then paired up with his then wife, pop diva Madonna in the woeful, and painful, Shanghai Surprise (1986), which was savaged by the critics, but Sean bounced back with a great job as a hot-headed young cop in Colors (1988), gave another searing performance as a US soldier in Vietnam committing atrocities in Casualties of War (1989) and appeared alongside Robert De Niro in the uneven comedy We’re No Angels (1989). However, the 1990s was the decade in which Sean really got noticed by critics as a mature, versatile and accomplished actor, with a string of dynamic performances in first-class films.

Almost unrecognizable with frizzy hair and thin rimmed glasses, Penn was simply brilliant as corrupt lawyer David Kleinfeld in the Brian De Palma gangster movie Carlito’s Way (1993) and he was still in trouble with authority as a Death Row inmate pleading with a caring nun to save his life in Dead Man Walking (1995), for which he received his first Oscar nomination. Sean then played the brother of wealthy Michael Douglas, involving him in a mind-snapping scheme in The Game (1997) and also landed the lead role of Sgt. Eddie Walsh in the star-studded anti-war film The Thin Red Line (1998), before finishing the 1990s playing an offbeat jazz musician (and scoring another Oscar nomination) in Sweet and Lowdown (1999).

The gifted and versatile Sean had also moved into directing, with the quirky but interesting The Indian Runner (1991), about two brothers with vastly opposing views on life, and in 1995 he directed Jack Nicholson in The Crossing Guard (1995). Both films received overall positive reviews from critics. Moving into the new century, Sean remained busy in front of the cameras with even more outstanding work: a mentally disabled father fighting for custody of his seven-year-old daughter (and receiving a third Oscar nomination) for I Am Sam (2001); an anguished father seeking revenge for his daughter’s murder in the gut-wrenching Clint Eastwood-directed Mystic River (2003) (for which he won the Oscar as Best Actor); a mortally ill college professor in 21 Grams (2003) and a possessed businessman in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004). –IMDb

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willythesalesman

11Feb12

it's either unbearably pretentious or very earnest. I really liked it

bleadof

5Feb12

First I thought that this is another movie that romantizes this wandering character - I was thinking of Jack Kerouac, but then he started to grow on me. Finally I fell in love with the character. He was idealistic and stupid, but that's what makes it interesting and heartfelt. The pacing and the structure work really well and they've given all the characters just enough time to show the mutual impact and the stakes.

Dan

30Jan12

Un film aussi simple que beau qui nous fait réfléchir sur les choses, la vie et notre style de vie sans jamais tomber dans une forme moralisatrice (il s'agit en même temps d'une histoire vraie). Un film sur la liberté et ses limites, qui laisse une empreinte en nous.