Into The Wild

A very difficult story to tell but I find that Sean Penn's precise view of the main character is ambiguous, as he does not question its motives and wisdom; but tells a fascinating tale, with room for myriad personal interpretations. And this is just great as creates a spellbinding movie that becomes not only visual poetry but also shows a direction that is amazingly sharp and intuitive and a masterpiece with epic dimensions.

Based on Jon Krakauer book with a screenplay also written by Sean Penn, the movie tells about the real life story of Christopher McCandless that left everything behind and went on a two-years road trip across North America. His ultimate destiny was the wilderness in Alaska and while traveling up to there he meets a handful of characters with whom he interacts.

Some critics and viewers are complaining about the pace and I have to say that has an outstanding slow pace for American Cinema, but it is so incredibly good to see and appreciate everything that is shown and what’s going that generates so many emotions that will at moments overcome you. There are some very intense scenes with silence, slow pace, the most incredible cinematography, outstanding framing, and unbelievably good performance by Emile Hirsh and they will just blow your emotions and mind away. Fantastic!

Also extremely good is the way Penn’s handles the narrative, going back and forward with the story which makes it a less painful to watch and more interesting. The editing is spectacular and the only thing I did not enjoyed are the split screens which I felt distracted instead of bestowing something additional to the story, the scene and/or the film.

If you haven’t read the book –I haven’t- you will be heavily impacted by the end, even when I suspect it, one thing is suspecting and another is seeing it. But even the end is so visually beautiful that helps to minimize the angst you may feel.

I know that some are impressed by Hal Holbroock performance, but my feeling is that is more for sentimental reasons, he’s good but not outstanding; while I do find that Emile Hirsch that has received some honors, deserve a lot more attention and honors for an extremely well done performance.

This very artful movie has many nominations and already won 8 awards in festivals and awards around the world including the RIFF Jury Award in the 2007 Rome International Film Festival.

This is another art cinema that just happens to belong to American cinema and obviously not for all audiences. I believe that parents will intensively dislike the movie and believe that the natural audience of this movie is those that really like art cinema. This is a must be seen for those that love worldwide art cinema.

Enjoy!!!