Into the Wild (Sean Penn 2007)
Posted on February 25 at 16.48, 2008 by Eric Mahleb
An ode to the beauty of the natural world, with particular emphasis on the sumptuous North American West, a condemnation of a race driven by personal gratification and material satisfaction, an homage to the power of love and of human connections, a portrayal of a remarkable, idealistic, selfish and naïve young man in his quest for a simpler life away from civilisation, Into the Wild is a riveting film whose cinematography and message linger in the mind long after the initial viewing.
Sean Penn’s fourth picture clearly shows that he is an accomplished director with a strong understanding of human tragedy and, in the case of Into the Wild and of The Pledge (2001), for placing it in the midst of humbling and majestic landscapes.
Based on the book by Jon Krakauer (the journalist and mountaineer who also wrote the tragic and fascinating Into Thin Air (1997), about a 1996 ill-fated ascent of Mount Everest), Into the Wild tells the story of Christopher McCandless, a bright young man from an affluent family in Atlanta, Georgia, who after graduation decided to leave everything behind, including his family, for a bohemian and penniless lifestyle across the American West. A modern Jeremiah Johnson, McCandless’s spiritual quest led him, after almost 2 years of nomadic wandering, to Alaska where he attempted to live alone in the wild.
There seem to be different opinions about McCandless’s personality and relationship to the world and whether he deserves the positive depiction that he received in Krakauer’s book and now in Sean Penn’s film. But regardless of whether McCandless truly was such a likeable person, Into the Wild is a breathtaking film that should make anyone long for the serenity and splendour of a world that we are sadly in the process of destroying.
My vote: 
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