Into the wild

It's a slow day. I decide to rent a couple of movies to pass the time. It's freezing cold outside, so even the small walk to the movie monger's is an ordeal. I watch Into the Wild while eating the last Christmas chocolates.

You know the story. Kid grows up in a dysfunctional family. Kid finishes college. Kid sets out on a long journey. Into the wild. Along the road, he meets some people. They are nice to him. They help him. But he's afraid to develop strong bonds to people so he's gotta move on. Kid travels to Alaska and settles down in a magic bus. It all ends in tragedy.

I understand the tradition of this movie. Emerson, Thoreau, yada, yada. The spirit of America. And don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant enough viewing experience & some scenes moved me (a lot of the smaller roles were great!). But the story and the way it was told bugged me quite a bit. Alienated, sensitive, freedom-loving guy wants to stay clear of "society" (his parents). So we see him kayaking, walking, socializing with people he befriends but decides to leave because he has this idea about ALASKA. His pompous ways ("let me refer to Thoreau here...") are treated as partly insightful, yet very tragic and the oh-so-majestic crooning of E. Veddar only adds to this wallowing in Young Man's Fragile Psyche. Blergh. OK, maybe I'm a little bit unfair. But there were one scene that was quite symptomatic. Young Chris hangs out with a girl at a hippie camping. They are friends. But, you guessed it, he decides to leave because he has this idea about Freedom. So, the camera frames her teary face. Cut: His stoic departure from the camp. Blergh, again!

I'm not saying that Penn applaudes the idea that happiness is realized in its fullest form without other people. So, he investigates Chris' very adolescent ideals and how he is gradually confronted with their immaturity. So, that's quite all right. But for me, this progression did not have any real depth (even though, as I said, there are some beautiful scenes here). In my opinion, Penn is trading in stereotypes and stereotypical ideas, but he doesn't seem to be aware of this. It doesn't reach under the surface of anything.

One other thing that let me down in this movie was that I thought the outdoors scenes would be much more interesting. In quite a few scenes, I got the impression of Postcard Beauty, rather than a more, how should we put it, sublime depiction of nature.

And if I see another film in which a fuzzy-haired character is so overwhelmed by the beauty of nature that they have to SCREAM IN JOY I'll choke on my fries (or whatever).

I prefer Grizzly man a hundred times to this....pretentious little thingy.
I put on Dutch Harbor: where the sea breaks its neck instead. What a great album!