Still As Life

Last night I went and saw "Into The Wild" with Rhi. The turn out at the cinema was quite appalling considering it was premiere night. Aside from Rhi and myself, there were 5 other people, and 2 of them left 15 minutes into the movie. So all up, there were only 5 of us remained for the entire 2 and a half hour movie.

I don't know if it was a poorly publicised movie or if it was just that it was the last showing of the day, but I think this movie has gotten a lot less credit than it deserves.It makes me glad to see that the IMDB average user rating at the time of writing this is 8.2 because this movie really deserved 8+ to say the least.

It is definately not suitable for kids as there are a few scenes with nudity in them, including one scene at the "OMG Hot Springs" which is actually a nudist camp.

However, the movie was superb. It is based on the story of Christopher McCandless who after graduating, effectively throws everything away to go to Alaska and live in the wilderness. His travels lead him all over the United States and even down to Mexico before he finally reaches Alaska, and he does this all by effectively bumming.

He starts going be the name of "Alexander Supertramp" and makes his way all over North America by any means possible, hitchhiking, jumping on freight train cars, working occasionally when he has to and so on. It takes him 2 years to finally reach Alaska, but when he does it's in Winter.

It's obvious he is loving it all, until Spring when he attempts to leave and discovers the river has been drastically swollen by the melting snow and ice. This is when his journey starts to really sour and he discovers he is effectively stuck on what he has named the "Magic Bus", a bus he found and lived in during his time in Alaska, in the middle of nowhere.

The movie is definately not an all happy movie. Part of the reason for his trip is the constant anger at his parents, particularly his father and the treatment he gave his son.

Many times Alex comes across new people and makes friends with them and it is clear that as much as he would like to remain with some of these people, nothing can keep him from making it to Alaska.

I could tell you how the movie ends, but I won't because I really think you should see it for yourself. I highly recommend it. If you still aren't sure, watch the trailer, and I promise you won't be disappointed with the movie if you see it.

Labels: movies