A Great "Road Film"

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2007)

This is one of the best "road" films you're likely ever to see.
What this road film shows us in depth, unlike others of its type, is that while youth are on the road trying to discover the meaning of life there are concerned parents, relatives, and friends left behind who worry day and night about them. Looking at two earlier road films: the 60's classic "Easy Rider" and the modern road film "The Motorcycle Diaries", one can see that only "Into The Wild" emphasizes that there are more people in a person's story than just one's own heroic self.
"Into The Wild" wonderfully depicts the naive, but well-intentioned, egocentricity of Chris McCandless (superbly played by Emile Hirsch), a young man who is practically the very definition of high-minded youth. In his search of self-discovery this young man inflicts the pain of loss on almost everyone he meets. I think he knows this, but he's not about to let it deter him from punching his ticket of self-discovery on his way to manhood. I think he also knows that he might be biting off more than he can chew, but to his credit he doesn't let that deter him from his quest. Like most his age, he tends to think he's immortal. He will soon discover otherwise when he reaches the northern wilderness.
It may seem incongruous, but Chris reminded me of some of the Carthusian monks depicted in the recent film "Into Great Silence." They too were on a journey of discovery, but in monastic cells rather than in the Alaskan wilderness. In reality, though, I think the two journeys aren't all that different. The one is fraught with physical danger, the other with spiritual hazards. The old British expression says that it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. Perhaps in the eyes of many Chris McCandless did not win the game, but there's no doubt he played it very well. As portrayed in this film, he is someone we can all be very proud of.