Into the Wild

Yesterday I watched this movie by myself starting at 12 midnight. I had the remote control ready at my hand in case the sound suddenly bangs. Surprisingly, it was very quiet for an adventure, based-on-real-events movie.

Sean Penn's Into the Wild is the story of Christopher McCandless who, after graduation, left everything and gave all his money to charity. He had one goal in mind: to go to Alaska... into the wild. He had very strong views against materialism which as the movie showed, had deeper roots from the experiences he had with his parents. He wanted to be free of material things, which I think was good. Even I truly believe him. But being at the extreme is a mistake. He lived in the wild with little time to prepare, no maps and a few equipment.

The relationships he made with the people he met on the way were beautiful. The wonder in his eyes when he's alone and conquering and discovering nature and things on his own was contagious. It was pure and just beautiful that I wish everyone of us could be like that. Emile Hirsch did a wonderful job as Chris! He's easily becoming one of my new favorites.

Then he stepped into the wild and there wasn't a single time that I was not scared for him. Though I knew how it would turn out eventually, the movie has something in it that just keeps you wanting to see and feel with Chris. I knew that crossing what looked like a stream in winter is crossing way more than a stream after winter. This makes Chris sound stupid, but I can't call him that because he's brilliant. I say he's stubborn... and being brilliant just made him even more stubborn. It's only when he realized that he was trapped and can't go back that he got really scared... and acknowledged the mistakes he made too late. In the end he writes "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED".

Chris McCandless is a free soul and an inspiration. It was a sad ending for a movie and a life. The scary thing is I can relate to him a lot. But I'm relieved I wouldn't have to go through all those. This movie made me learn a lot about myself. And I'm glad.

And it reminded me of John Denver's song "Sweet Surrender", which is a favorite of mine!!! By the way, Eddie Vedder's songs were beautiful in the movie.

Lost and alone on some forgotten highway,
traveled by many, remembered by few.
Looking for something that I can believe in,
looking for something that I'd like to do with my life.
There's nothing behind me and nothing that ties me to
something that might have been true yesterday.
Tomorrow is open and right now it seems
to be more than enough to just be here today,
and I don't know what the future is holding in store,
I don't know where I'm going, I'm not sure where I've been.
There's a spirit that guides me, a light that shines for me,
my life is worth the living, I don't need to see the end.

Sweet, sweet surrender, live, live without care,
like a fish in the water, like a bird in the air.

I couldn't find a complete version of the song in imeem, so I'll just leave you with a video from youtube. Hope you all like it.