Into the Wild
Short description
Into the Wild follows Christopher McCandless, a top student and athlete who graduates from Emory University in the early 1990s and turns his back on the comfortable future awaiting him. He gives away his savings, sheds his possessions and sets out on the road under the name Alexander Supertramp, heading for the Alaskan wilderness. Along the way he drifts through the American West, meeting people living on the margins of society whose company shapes how he sees the world and himself. His journey ends in Alaska, where he tries to live alone off the land.
Sean Penn directed the film and wrote the screenplay, adapting Jon Krakauer's book about McCandless and his journals. It is the fourth feature Penn directed, arriving after The Crossing Guard, The Pledge and his segment of September 11. Emile Hirsch plays McCandless, with Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt as his parents, Jena Malone as his sister, and Catherine Keener and Brian H. Dierker among the travellers he encounters. Penn produced with Art Linson and Bill Pohlad.
Made for about 15 million dollars, the film took roughly 56 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8 out of 10 from around 694,000 votes, a large and strongly favourable sample, while on TMDB it stands at 7.8 from over ten thousand votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from 199 reviews places professional and general audiences closely together.
What's left behind the scenes
- To play the main role in the film, Emil Hirsch lost 18 kilograms.
- According to Sean Penn himself, he had been working towards filming this movie for almost ten years. He read Krakauer’s book in one night in 1996, after which he immediately began negotiations with McCandless’s parents about adapting it for the screen. However, when everything was ready for filming, the parents refused.
- The first film directed by Sean Penn not starring his wife, Robin Wright.
- When Sean Penn first became eager to make this film (which happened immediately after reading Jon Krakauer's book, published in 1996), he envisioned Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of McCandless and Marlon Brando as Ron Franz.
- The film was shot entirely on location, meaning in the places where McCandless lived and suffered. The film crew had to travel to Alaska four times to capture all the seasons.
- Davey Chase auditioned for the role of Tracy but did not get it.
- The moose that Christopher killed in the film was actually found dead in Alaska.
- All the original songs in the film are performed by Eddie Vedder, the frontman of the grunge band “Pearl Jam”.
- Filming took place from April 24 to November 4, 2006.
- The scene where a bear approaches Chris, but Chris doesn't react to it and the bear leaves, directly references Jack London's story “Love of Life,” where exactly the same situation was described.
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