Into The Wild Movie Essay

One of my favourite books and movies is Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild (1996) that was adapted to the screen by Sean Penn in 2007. The film follows the true story of Christopher McCandless’ expedition across North America and his time spent in the Alaskan wilderness where he died alone. During the film viewers are taken along a journey where they see the main character search for his true place in the natural world independent from the trappings of a normal suburban life. The movie is beautifully filmed and seductively draws us into the attraction of the American wilderness and the noble ambition to being self-reliant. However, the movie challenges us intellectually and emotionally as we are presented with two views of McCandless. The first is that the film is a positive movie where he was a noble person whose adventures were an attempt to escape the trappings of consumerism. The second viewpoint is that it is a depressing movie where we see a selfish person who ended up dying alone. However, in my opinion, Into The Wild is a positive movie that inspires all of us to build a connection to nature and to be more self-reliant.

The film opens with an inspirational quote by Lord Byron that provides one of the key themes for the movie. “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods. There is a rapture on the lonely shore. There is society, where none intrudes. …show more content…
The challenge is to be self-reliant and virtuous but also not to forget that an important part of what makes us human is our social connections with others. Overall, I would highly recommend Into The Wild as a well written, directed and filmed movie that speaks to any of us who have experienced the feeling of wanderlust. Even though the movie ends with McCandless’ death, it is a positive movie that highlights the importance of the journey over the