Day 6: Into The Wild

Into The Wild | 2007 | USA | Sean Penn

6.8 / 10

"Happiness is only real when shared"

   I watched this film for the first time back in 2007 in the theatre and I really enjoyed it. I didn't like it so much now. Maybe because I'm older. Maybe because I travelled a lot since then. Or maybe because its awesome soundtrack is no longer new to me. To be very honest, it really got on my nerves today.

   The film is about an idealistic young man who decides to drop everything and pursue happiness in the wild, as a journey to his innerself, reborn as Alexander Supertramp. He enters this voyage hoping for salvation, purification. The idea is great and many have done it before. So nothing new so far but nothing new doesn't really bother me. (It's hard to do anything new nowadays anyway) What bothers me is his selfishness. How he left everyone behind without even leaving a note, a short explanation. He was 24, no one could have stopped him. So why not? Is it because he somehow hated his parents. Ok, I can live with that. But what about his sister?

   As we follow the story we realize that his path instead of taking him away from humanity actually brings him closer to it. On his journey he meets wonderful people like Catherine and Ron, and all of them give him all their love and advices and he always ends up turning them down. It's like they meant nothing to him and he learned absolutely nothing from them. 

   For me, the only highlights of this movie are Eddie Vedder's original soundtrack and the cinematography that is quite good. Both work perfectly together. About the acting, I can name fifty actors that would have done a better job.

  Altogether I didn't learn anything from this movie. Supertramp died young and it was his own fault.

He had a death wish and that doesn't make him a hero.