Into the Wild

Toronto International Film Festival Program Book
2007

Into the Wild
Sean Penn
USA, 2007
English
148 minutes
Colour/35mm
Production Company: River Road Entertainment/Paramount Vantage/Square One C.I.H./Linson Film
Executive Producer: John J. Kelly, Frank Hildebrand, David Blocker
Producer: Sean Penn, Art Linson, Bill Pohlad
Screenplay: Sean Penn, based on the book by Jon Krakauer
Cinematographer: Eric Gautier
Editor: Jay Cassidy
Production Designer: Derek Hill
Sound: Martin Hernandez
Music: Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder
Principal Cast: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener, Hal Halbrook
Production: River Road Entertainment

Even in this year of particularly fine American cinema dealing with the politics of our age, Into the Wild stands apart. Instead of confronting issues like Iraq and civil liberties violations head on, director Sean Penn has stepped back to contemplate what it means to be an American—and what it means to be a human being—when civilization itself becomes a source of alienation and mistrust. This exploration, surely a reaction to the turbulent times in which we live, represents a passionate artistic entreaty of lasting power and impressive magnitude.

Penn’s muse is Christopher McCandless, the young anti-hero of Jon Krakauer’s non-fiction book on which the film is based. Born into wealth and privilege, McCandless tossed it all away the day he graduated college in 1990, donating all his money to OXFAM and burning his ID. He then hit the road, encountering others who chose unconventional paths, from a farmer arrested for producing drugs, to the “rubber tramps,” hippie remnants committed to cruising the open road and building a free-form desert commune. This journey eventually drives McCandless to lose himself in Alaska, an ultimate test inspired by the great authors—especially Tolstoy, Thoreau and London—who battled nature and the pressures of the human soul. His end is tragic, but it does not arrive before he discovers some basic truths about the human condition.

Penn is a master visual poet; the various Americas portrayed here are spectacular and haunting. The landscape photography, shot by Eric Gautier, brings remarkable new meaning and gravity to iconic mountains, deserts and snowdrifts. The film’s performances are among the year’s best. Emile Hirsch as McCandless is a revelation, gradually drawing us into a complex, frequently stubborn and naive character, who represents the self-doubt in us all. An extraordinary ensemble cast surrounds him. In particular, Catherine Keener as the hippie who sacrificed too much for her freedom, and Hal Holbrook as the simple father figure McCandless craves, are simply magnificent. But it is ultimately the quest itself, the hunger for personal and spiritual fulfillment that, at one time or another, plagues each of us, that is most inspiring and daunting in this exceptional film.
—Noah Cowan