This film is based on Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name, which tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man from California. In 1992, he hiked into the Alaskan wilderness, away from society and civilisation, where he could hunt and live off the land. His emaciated body was found four months later, he having apparently died from starvation. In May 1990, Christopher gave almost $25,000 dollars (the remains of the money given to him by a friend to study a degree) to Oxfam International, and effectively ran away from home, hitching his way across America. En route he made several friends, all of whom seemed fairly transient due to his reluctance to stay in one place for very long; his aim was to get to Alaska, and all the people he met on the way and the casual jobs he did were just part of the journey.
The film starts just as he gets into the Alaskan wilds, and then jumps back to an earlier time to show the McCandless family dynamic, and the events that led up to Christopher’s journey.
Emile Hirsch plays Christopher, and does an excellent job. Christopher is clearly an academically gifted young man, but is also possessed of a certain naivety, and has been damaged by his parents’ abusive relationship and their harsh emotional treatment of him and his sister Carine. Fine support is provided by, amongst others, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt and Vince Vaughn, but this is really Hirsch’s film and he carries it very well, depicting the young man’s descent from optimism and eagerness into loneliness and fright.
It is an absorbing film, and although it’s about two and a half hours long, it certainly didn’t feel that long. I didn’t feel that it romanticised what happened to Christopher, although from reading more about the actual true story, it would seem that some poetic licence may have been used.
I definitely cared about the character, although even if I hadn’t known his eventual fate before watching, it still would have always seemed that his journey would not end in a happy way. However, I also found him quite frustrating at times. He hitched into an environment that he knew little about, and didn’t seem to make even the most basic preparations. Unfortunately, this cost him dearly.
The film was shot on location in Alaska, and there are some fantastic scenes showing the beautiful and unforgiving landscape. (Almost made the film worth watching for the scenery alone.) I must also mention the fantastic soundtrack, which was done by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. The songs fitted the various moods of the film perfectly, with some gorgeous and haunting melodies.
So to sum up, in parts this film is uplifting, but it is also very sad sometimes. But it was certainly well worth watching, and a film I would recommend.
Year of release: 2007
Director: Sean Penn
Writers: Jon Krakauer (book), Sean Penn
Main cast: Emile Hirsch, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook
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Click here for my review of Jon Krakauer’s book.
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