My roommate Bryan and I went to Portland and saw Into the Wild Friday night. For some reason it is only playing at one theater in all of Oregon . Bryan and I both loved the book, so we had been waiting for this movie to come out to Oregon. Needless to say, we were willing to drive into P-town to check it out.
In case any of you haven't heard about this film, it was based on a book written by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer was a famous mountaineer who retired to writing for Outside Magazine. Into the Wild was published in 1996 and was extremely successful. The book tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young college graduate who gave up all worldly possessions to pursue something greater. After leaving his car in the desert, burning all the cash in his pocket and donating over $20,000 to charity he took to the road. For nearly two years McCandless travels all over North America. During this time he met and made impressions on many people, which are the primary focus of both the book and the movie. Eventually McCandless (Alexander Supertramp) made it to the Alaskan Wilderness, where he ended up dying alone. Krakauer draws many parallels between the human desire for adventure and Chris McCandless' wanderings.
I first read the book my sophomore year of college after it was recommended to me by a good friend. I couldn't put it down. The words resonated within me. McCandless' desire for adventure, and the unknown was very relatable. I ended up reading it twice in a row, and quickly thereafter decided that New Zealand was the place to go. I am not going to attribute to much of my decision of going to New Zealand to Into the Wild, but it did fan an already existing flame.
Sean Penn did an amazing job with the direction of this film, it had a very rough and independent feel to it, which beautifully conveyed the feeling I got from reading the book. Emile Hirsch looked very comfortable in his role as Chris McCandless. The movie ends with an actual photograph of Chris McCandless, and Emile Hirsch even looked strikingly similar. Surprisingly, Vince Vaughn played Wayne Westerberg, the eccentric combine owner who Chris lives with for a couple of months, without overdoing it. The wide angle shots continued to impress throughout the entire film. I don't know if it is possible for a book based movie to be better than the book, but if so than this may be one of the few instances. After leaving the theater all I could think about were my travels in New Zealand. I wanted to be back, with the people I love, wandering in a state of excitement and wonder.
I know that very few people actually read this blog, but my hopes in writing this review is to promote this great book and film. Sadly, the themes presented in this film will not be seen by as many people as they should. Hopefully, this beautiful rendition of an already fantastic book will be shown at theaters across the country. If you have a chance go and see it, you won't be dissapointed.
In case any of you haven't heard about this film, it was based on a book written by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer was a famous mountaineer who retired to writing for Outside Magazine. Into the Wild was published in 1996 and was extremely successful. The book tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young college graduate who gave up all worldly possessions to pursue something greater. After leaving his car in the desert, burning all the cash in his pocket and donating over $20,000 to charity he took to the road. For nearly two years McCandless travels all over North America. During this time he met and made impressions on many people, which are the primary focus of both the book and the movie. Eventually McCandless (Alexander Supertramp) made it to the Alaskan Wilderness, where he ended up dying alone. Krakauer draws many parallels between the human desire for adventure and Chris McCandless' wanderings.
I first read the book my sophomore year of college after it was recommended to me by a good friend. I couldn't put it down. The words resonated within me. McCandless' desire for adventure, and the unknown was very relatable. I ended up reading it twice in a row, and quickly thereafter decided that New Zealand was the place to go. I am not going to attribute to much of my decision of going to New Zealand to Into the Wild, but it did fan an already existing flame.
Sean Penn did an amazing job with the direction of this film, it had a very rough and independent feel to it, which beautifully conveyed the feeling I got from reading the book. Emile Hirsch looked very comfortable in his role as Chris McCandless. The movie ends with an actual photograph of Chris McCandless, and Emile Hirsch even looked strikingly similar. Surprisingly, Vince Vaughn played Wayne Westerberg, the eccentric combine owner who Chris lives with for a couple of months, without overdoing it. The wide angle shots continued to impress throughout the entire film. I don't know if it is possible for a book based movie to be better than the book, but if so than this may be one of the few instances. After leaving the theater all I could think about were my travels in New Zealand. I wanted to be back, with the people I love, wandering in a state of excitement and wonder.
I know that very few people actually read this blog, but my hopes in writing this review is to promote this great book and film. Sadly, the themes presented in this film will not be seen by as many people as they should. Hopefully, this beautiful rendition of an already fantastic book will be shown at theaters across the country. If you have a chance go and see it, you won't be dissapointed.
"The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences."
~ Chris McCandless
6 comments:
That book is one of my favorites. That's awesome you saw the movie. I wanna.
Yes ..... some people do read your blog. One of my favorite books of all time ..... as a parent it really made me angry that he seemed to turn his back on his family .... but I admired his indepentent spirit. Looking forward to seeing the movie.
-Bryan's Dad
I want to live in a bus.
So that movie is playing but in a theater 6 hours away from here. Tough break.
Shoot, is Bryan's Dad the guy I am supposed to email?
my fav book and movie!
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