Into The Wild

[Redlum]

After seeing this my concerns about this film being an overly upbeat telling of the story were unnecessary. It didn't go so far as to ever present Chris a fool but it was never overly celebratory of him, either. The parent's portrayal was in fact it far, far less forgiving than Chris's which makes me doubt how influential they actually were in this respect.

It left me with the same horrible feeling that the book did. Of course, this isn't a beloved literary character of mine so it's not like if it weren't to live up to my interpretation of Chris from the book that I would be dismissive at all. The opposite is true. The film enabled me to see past the cautionary aspect of Chris's mindset and journey to see the loss and tragedy of it. Regardless of what our judgment of Chris is, he was still just a young man. The simple choice of showing the real Chris's self-portrait at the Magic Bus, at the end of the film really brought this home to me.

[MacGuffin]

Penn, Vedder get into 'Wild'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Sean Penn spent a decade preparing the film adaptation of Jon Krakauer's 1996 book "Into the Wild." But it only took him a few hours to secure the services of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder to write the soundtrack for the project.

The pair's creative partnership was the subject of a keynote address Thursday. Vedder and Penn were joined in conversation by Michael Brook, who wrote the "Wild" score.

"The script had been structured to have songs carry some of the narrative," Penn said. "We'd use a lot of Michael's stuff to temp to during the shoot. I just asked (Vedder) initially for a song, (and) rather quickly he started sending things down. The most important moment in the collaboration was just sitting at his place watching the movie together. He'd send these songs down, and they'd just work perfectly."

Brook likened the process of blending his music with Vedder's songs to "a kind of conversation" and said he was delighted "how much experimenting there was, which is what I always like best. Some of the music I wrote just reading the book. A lot of that we threw away, but some of it actually wound up in the film. At the beginning, you're not looking at the picture so much. You're just thinking, 'What is the atmosphere?' "

For Vedder, who previously turned down persistent requests from Penn to act in one of his films, writing for "Wild" was akin to finding "the perfect wave. Sean had found the perfect wave by the time he talked to me about it. It was just a pleasure to surf this perfect wave. All I had to do was get back on the boat and sing for my supper."

He added that working with Penn and the family of the story's main character, Christopher McCandless, at top of mind was a welcome creative challenge.

"In our group, or the way we're used to doing it, we have five guys and we're all kind of the boss," Vedder said. "This felt more like, these people I felt responsible to were the boss. I felt really comfortable in that position."

Vedder and Penn have given only a handful of interviews about the project but joked about their true reason for appearing at the conference. "Our motivation in being here today is primarily those briefcases full of cash from Billboard," Penn said with a laugh.

[mogwai]

sean penn and eddie vedder on charlie rose:

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2007/09/21/1/a-discussion-about-the-film-into-the-wild

[Sunrise]

Just a few thoughts:

- The film is incredible...Penn will never make a better one.
- Penn is undeniably talented and I love a lot of his work...but his pretension undermines almost all of his good intentions. Charlie Rose's brownosing doesn't help either.
- Yet Eddie Vedder's authentic humility, which has been shown time and again, is certainly the counterbalance in that friendship. Many people are averse to Vedder, and his music, but I just can't see that.
- Into the Wild will be the most polarizing film of the year. I know where I fall.

[pete]

this reminds me a bit of grizzly man.  the guy's foray into the wild might not be a valid point, but the film isn't that interested in the point, it's about his anger and his demons.  sean penn didn't present his demons as compellingly as herzog did with the documentary footages, but it made a sad and moving film all the same.  this film is a little bit more upbeat with its breathtaking cinematography and gorgeous acting.  sean penn is doing his best david gordon green in a few spots, he never quite crosses over to keeping it real, but it's real enough.

spoiler
my favorite part, which I'm not sure if it's THE point of the film (it is for me) is when the old man tells him he needs to forgive.  that feels like the whole point of the movie and the answer to the kid's question.  I'm not sure if it is for the rest or if it's just a throwaway, but I was satisfied after that moment.

[Gold Trumpet]

It's a sad day. I'm treating Xixax as second tier by ripping a review from facebook and planting it here. I just don't have the interest to rewrite a new review.


Into the Wild is sincere and passionate. Sean Penn believes in the words and mission of Christopher McCandless that his portrait of him looks past any of the ideas of his naivety or stupidity. The film delves so deeply into his personality that the film knows no other narrator besides his sister who gives a history of the father-mother battles and his distance from that situation. The narration buys into what everything McCandless says is not only truthful, but insightful. His death isn't just a stupid mistake, but a self sacrifice offering of his soul to the wilderness, even if evidence says otherwise. Penn can say his film is an adaptation of Krakauer's book, but he inflicts his own beliefs as well. Penn goes all out to make this film a sermon from the church of a renegade college graduate. Camera tricks are everywhere to emphasize the dramatics and much of the dialogue is personal confession from McCandless himself. Penn's over exuberance comes off as him giving into the weight of telling this story by making no moment too small. Technically, I would have cut a lot of the camera effects but this film is driven by its impressions instead of its perfection. The best decision the film does for itself is having an extended length. The get-to-knowing of McCandless in the story makes his eventual death truly tragic. Even if the back story paints a different picture of McCandless, Penn is mostly successful is painting his own image of the crusader. A different film may be able to get a more rounded picture of McCandless, but I'm not sure if it could get a closer one.

[Gamblour.]

My friends are refusing to see this because of an ad that said, "See what happens when a filmmaker stays true to his vision." And it's a plug for some TV or something. They think Penn wrote that line, that it's pretty arrogant. I don't know that he wrote it, but it's awfully pompous. I'll probably still see the movie, even though I don't care about some rich white kid from Emory going off into the woods.

[cinemanarchist]

It is a commercial for Samsung and their new "Indie" supported ad campaign. The campaign is happening at many Landmark Theatres and I assure you Sean Penn didn't write the line. Samsung will be doing the same thing for a couple more upcoming films and it will more than likely say the same thing about staying true to your vision. Don't let that stop you from checking this flick out.

[mogwai]

(spoilers)

a visually amazing made movie, with great music score and some impressive directing by mr penn. featuring a great performance by emile hirsch but an even more and moving performance by hal holbrook. i actually loathed some of the real christopher mccandless choices; leaving the girlfriend and ron franz (holbrook's character) behind him. the only thing i didn't like was the slaying of the moose.

i hope this gets some academy nominations, including one for eddie vedder.

[squints]

i liked it. i didn't like it. alls i know is that Hal Holbrook definitely deserves several awards
...maybe more later...

[SiliasRuby]

Saw this 2 months ago and forgot to review it. Into the Wild is definitely a hard hitting drama, something you'd expect from Sean. But there are many moments in this movie that aren't expected and extemely beautiful. Emile Hirsh is amazing. I hope he gets some awards. Vince Vaughn works complely in this film and Hal Holbrook is always wonderful to see. The music is married to this film so much that it's almost it's equal. So, check it out

[Gamblour.]

I'll say this, my fiancee and I went to the car and cried about it. It's so deeply sad, to me, because there's just incredible pain that everyone suffers in the film. And it really feels raw, in the content, not the cinematography or acting (as has been said). I didn't buy him at first, but Emile Hirsch gives a good performance by the end. He's too much of a dude for all the profundity, but then he settles into it. Also it was probably weird seeing someone who actually is the age they're portraying in film, so he seemed almost too young, which was a good choice by Penn.

Speaking of, Penn is weird. I imagined Sean Penn sitting over my shoulder during the film, and when some strange decision (highlighting the word "people" in one of the books, the crappy text morph on the title, the hand-written letters, even down to Eddie Vedder doing the score, among many other things) would come up, he would whisper, "It's ok, I'm an artist, and this is my intention and it means what it means." There were definitely two moments where I said aloud, "Penn is weird." Can't remember which though. But then I think his directing style is very much like one building a collage, not of other styles but of these bits and pieces of Chris' life. And I think the movie is better for it.

My favorite performance was definitely Keener, she's just so wonderful and warm in this. Definitely got my Xixax nom.

[72teeth]

I'll say this, my fiancee and I went to the car and cried about it.

haha... yeah same here.

[Kal]

I loved this... I read the book a while ago and really wanted to see Penn's interpretation of it and I was curious about Emile Hirsch and his performance. It was a lot better than what i expected and in my opinion it stayed true to the book. You can look at the story in many ways, and truth is that nobody knows a lot of the stuff that happened or how it happened. I dont necessarily see Chris as a hero or an idiot, he was just someone who wanted to do his own adventure and escape a life that did not suit him. It does not matter if he was prepared for it, or if it was the right thing to do, but he seemed to enjoy most of the ride.

The film was excellent. I'm happy cause I didnt have so much faith in Sean Penn, but he shot a beautiful film. Music was great too. I'm surprised it got a nomination for Hal Holbrook and not others, especially soundtrack.

[Sleepless]

Anyone have the Eddie Vedder track 'Guaranteed'? I don't want to buy the whole ablum on iTunes.