Comparison Of Into The Wild And Grizzly Man

Survival of the fittest is the law that all animals must obey. Humans have very specific natural instincts that they are born with, one of the most essential being survival. The lack of shelter, food and communication negatively impacts the mental and physical health of any human being, and this experience is demonstrated in the movie, “Into the Wild” and in the documentary, “Grizzly Man”. Into the Wild is more effective at portraying the theme of survival than Grizzly Man because of the movie’s usage of perspective, camera angles and character development. First, camera angles emphasize the atmosphere, emotion, and thoughts of the characters, allowing the viewer to experience the prominent theme of survival . Second, even though both media …show more content…
The different perspectives present in Into the Wild are a key way to portray the theme of survival. Carine has one of the most important perspectives in the film as it helps the viewer get a better understanding of the theme. An example of varying perspectives is when the movie starts of with Chris graduating and explaining his own story, and then a few scenes later changes to a third person view on Chris’ actions through his sister Carine, and this perspective continues to change throughout the movie (Penn, Into the Wild). By having a third person narrator, it helps the reader relate to the theme better as the viewer has the same perspective as Carine. The audience is looking at Chris in the same way Carine is, and having a narrator that one can relate to helps understand the topic to a better level. By getting on the same plain of understanding as the audience, Carine is able to bond with the audience, portraying more effectively the theme through her brothers’ story. In contrast, the documentary shows many more perspectives which confuses the audience as the theme starts to get blurred. In Grizzly Man there are approximately fifteen different people with interviews, this is evidence that there are too many perspectives to keep track off. Throughout the documentary different people give their opinions on Tim’s work (Herzog, Grizzly Man). The more different …show more content…
Penn does this by using a variety of techniques which effectively: firstly, he uses a wide range of camera angles to induce emotion with the audience so that they can experience what Chris Mccandless is. Penn also uses perspectives to create a story with very little bias, showing the audience what it truly means to survive in the wild. Furthermore he uses the development of Chris Mccandless to create a bond with the audience, so that they can watch him slowly change in a physical and mental state throughout the film. The film Into the Wild is a lot more effective because of these certain characteristics, and shows what survival in the wild really