Friday 10th February 2012Director: Sean Penn
Year: 2007
Stars: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Vince Vaughn, Brian H. Dierker, Catherine Keener, Kristen Stewart, Hal Holbrook
Into the Wild was part of a TV premiere double bill on Film Four, showing on the same night as Far North. Both films focus on Alaska, or at least somewhere in the Arctic (in the case of Far North). They are also both what my family might define as "Annie movies" - that is to say, movies that can be rather slow, with a lot of cinematography and sparse dialogue. Far North displays a lot more of these traits than Into the Wild, but both movies have them. Beyond this though, the movies are very different.
However, I can understand why some people might struggle with Into the Wild. Part of me was expecting to as well, but it turned out that I ended up really enjoying the movie. I found the tale intriguing (even more so for it being a true story), and whilst there were a lot of scenery and landscape shots, to me they felt as if they added to the story and helped create the right atmosphere. Into the Wild is all about Chris McCandless (Hirsch), a 23-year old who goes on road trip across the US to find himself, and ends up planning to spend time alone in the wilderness in Alaska. It's an involving story with something interesting to say about human nature, and, in my opinion at least, worth making an effort to watch.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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