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Into the Wild
2007 Directed by : Sean Penn
The film follows the true story of Chris McCandless as he makes the decision to shun the normal life his parents have planned for him after his graduation, and embark on an adventure living in the wilds of Alaska.
I really enjoyed Into the Wild, perhaps because I'm at a crossroads in my life and can fully appreciate the mindset that McCandless had, I'm sure many of us have become bored of our lifestyles and have often thought about making bold life changing decisions, but unlike most of us McCandless followed his dreams through to their tragic end.
The film is beautifully shot by Eric Gautier, a real road movie in the vain of Kerouac, where the stunning scenery almost becomes a character in the film by itself.
Emile Hirsch gives a fine performance at the core of the film, it's his movie, and whilst he is surrounded by other well known acting heavyweights, Hurt,Harden, Keener & Holbrook, it's really only his character that is properly fleshed out, and rightly so.
(Similar to Ruby Dee in American Gangster, I felt that Hal Holbrook was fine in his performance, but agin far from being Oscar worthy.)
My only gripe was the rather ill fitting MTV style edits, the Simpson-esque style text scrawled over the screen was annoying as too was the use of jump cuts, and various speeding up and slowing down of certain scenes, for me the film would have been better served without these intruesive edits.
A beautiful, poignant film that left me thinking long after I'd finished watching it.
Rating 3.5/5
2007 Directed by : Sean Penn
The film follows the true story of Chris McCandless as he makes the decision to shun the normal life his parents have planned for him after his graduation, and embark on an adventure living in the wilds of Alaska.
I really enjoyed Into the Wild, perhaps because I'm at a crossroads in my life and can fully appreciate the mindset that McCandless had, I'm sure many of us have become bored of our lifestyles and have often thought about making bold life changing decisions, but unlike most of us McCandless followed his dreams through to their tragic end.
The film is beautifully shot by Eric Gautier, a real road movie in the vain of Kerouac, where the stunning scenery almost becomes a character in the film by itself.
Emile Hirsch gives a fine performance at the core of the film, it's his movie, and whilst he is surrounded by other well known acting heavyweights, Hurt,Harden, Keener & Holbrook, it's really only his character that is properly fleshed out, and rightly so.
(Similar to Ruby Dee in American Gangster, I felt that Hal Holbrook was fine in his performance, but agin far from being Oscar worthy.)
My only gripe was the rather ill fitting MTV style edits, the Simpson-esque style text scrawled over the screen was annoying as too was the use of jump cuts, and various speeding up and slowing down of certain scenes, for me the film would have been better served without these intruesive edits.
A beautiful, poignant film that left me thinking long after I'd finished watching it.
Rating 3.5/5