Rhonda Dunaway
10-25-2007, 09:08 PM
I saw Into the Wild last weekend at the AMC Oakview theatre, and it was fantastic -- by far the best movie I've seen all year! If you ever go to the movies, even only rarely, don't miss this one!
The movie is based on the book of the same name by author Jon Krakauer. (I'm not sure of the spelling of his name, but this is close.) The book and the movie detail true events. A young college grad named Christopher McCandless decides to leave his family, his identity, and his material posessions behind in order to pursue his dream of traveling to Alaska and living on his own in the wilderness. The movie follows him as he journeys to Alaska, meeting fellow wanderers and working odd jobs along the way. Periodic flashbacks to Christopher's childhood help explain the reasons that motivate his journey and the seeming impulsivity of many of his decisions. The movie explores many themes with perhaps the most important or central one being whether our relationships with others, family in particular, are what sustain and fulfill us. In my experience, it's extremely rare for a movie to live up to a book that has preceded it, but the screen version of Into the Wild does justice to Krakauer's book and then some.
Krakauer is also the author of another terrific nonfiction book called Into Thin Air. In this book, Krakauer explores what motivates people to attempt to climb Mount Everest. I, personally, have never had the desire to do something like this (I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mother Nature could completely kick my butt anytime she wanted to), but I found it fascinating to read about people who do, even in the face of terrifying odds. I highly recommend this book, also, especially if you love stories about real life adventure.
The movie is based on the book of the same name by author Jon Krakauer. (I'm not sure of the spelling of his name, but this is close.) The book and the movie detail true events. A young college grad named Christopher McCandless decides to leave his family, his identity, and his material posessions behind in order to pursue his dream of traveling to Alaska and living on his own in the wilderness. The movie follows him as he journeys to Alaska, meeting fellow wanderers and working odd jobs along the way. Periodic flashbacks to Christopher's childhood help explain the reasons that motivate his journey and the seeming impulsivity of many of his decisions. The movie explores many themes with perhaps the most important or central one being whether our relationships with others, family in particular, are what sustain and fulfill us. In my experience, it's extremely rare for a movie to live up to a book that has preceded it, but the screen version of Into the Wild does justice to Krakauer's book and then some.
Krakauer is also the author of another terrific nonfiction book called Into Thin Air. In this book, Krakauer explores what motivates people to attempt to climb Mount Everest. I, personally, have never had the desire to do something like this (I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mother Nature could completely kick my butt anytime she wanted to), but I found it fascinating to read about people who do, even in the face of terrifying odds. I highly recommend this book, also, especially if you love stories about real life adventure.