Happiness only real when shared

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2008)

That's what the movie hero writes in his diary in the end. This movie tells the story of a young man who after graduating in university with very high marks decides to abandon home, family and everything and go to live into the wild in Alaska like if it was his promised land. He is pushed into that not only but what they call the lies of modern civilized life and social hypocrisy but also because, thinking like that, he is particularly hurt by his parents lies about their past private lives. While the movie progresses we hear his sister's voice off stressing the most important moments and aspects of his life. In my opinion the message the movie wants to pass is that there is a mistake to show revolt against society by running away to live with Nature and alone. In his course to Alaska our hero (who walks and hitch-hikes all the time) stops sometimes here and there to get occasional works that can give him a little money to enable him to support himself on his course. In those moments he creates bonds of friendship and love with lots of people but always rejects any possibilities of staying with them in his stubborn march to Alaska where he wants to spend at least a great part of his life in contact only with Mother Nature. He leaves lots of people who have become very fond of him, very unhappy with his absence. Mother nature is not always paradisiacal and may also be very cruel sometimes and even violent. And for instance the wild food it provides can be poisonous. Adding to the movie's credit are the beautiful landscape images and the splendid background music and songs of the country type.