Experiencing the Wilderness in the Movie "Into the Wild"

 My favorite films are the ones that go in chapters, and this one does. It breaks up the storyline to make you feel like you are experiencing the events as they happen in the book. 

The story itself is kind of unsettling, but it also is kind of beautiful in some odd way. It follows the story of a young student athlete who recently just graduated college named, Christopher McCandless. He decides that he wants to live the nomad life and abandons all his belongings so he can hitch hike his way to Alaska. His experience along the way is numbing and difficult at times as he ventures into the wilderness of Alaska. 

I feel like there is so much to be said about this film but starting off is the way that Christopher connects with others despite the desire to be alone. He builds a connection with everyone he meets along the way almost as if he knows that he is going to be put in great danger if he doesn't bond with people. Although he creates many of these friendships and even companionships, he somehow has no problem leaving them behind if it means that he will finally be able to start his life off-the-grid. 

Another noteworthy element to this movie is the fact that he has taken the feeling that many people have "to leave everything behind and begin a new life" to a much greater scale. It instills fear and anxiousness amongst the viewer as he somehow never realizes the true danger that he continues to put himself in. 

If there is one thing I dislike about this movie is the fear I now have of the Alaskan wilderness but in terms of more technical and artistic things, this movie is fantastic. The soundtrack by Eddie Vedder was a great choice and goes great with the movie's theme. Cinematically, it was a beautiful movie, the landscape was eye-catching and whimsical, I could definitely see someone wanting to go to Alaska after watching this movie solely because of the beauty. 

I might be 13 years late for on this movie but I would definitely watch this again. Loved every minute.