“Two years he walks the earth. Ultimate freedom.”

Christopher McCandless did what every young philosopher has done before him in some way or another: He embarked on a quest for truth.
The film “Into the Wild,” written and directed by Sean Penn, begins with the 1990 Emory University graduation of 22-year-old McCandless, played by Emile Hirsch. McCandless is less than thrilled about his parents’ characteristic tenseness and the announcement at his celebration dinner that his graduation present will be a new car.
“I don’t want anything,” McCandless said. Why would they think he would want a new car, when the one he had worked perfectly fine, he asks himself.
McCandless sees life through the eyes of Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolsky and Jack London. McCandless’ motives behind his plans of wild adventure were not strictly a reaction to the uniformed march through the corporate world that society expects from privileged young men like him. However, it is clear (to viewers and his sister, but not to his denying, oblivious parents) that this lover of literature and philosophy seeks a different path to take. His quest is to find truth, which can only be found in solitude and in nature. But McCandless learns that true happiness is only real when shared with other people.
Traveling under his assumed identity, Alexander Supertramp, McCandless writes the chapters of his life through his experiences on the road: childhood, adolescence, adult life, family and wisdom.

“An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road”

This carefully articulated, beautiful film is an adaptation of the novel by Jon Krakauer. McCandless’ younger sister, Carine, played by Jena Malone, co-narrates the story, giving background information on the siblings’s childhood and explaining the changes in her parents as anger and upset transformed into quiet pain as the months and years went by without any communication from McCandless. Carine understands that her brother is writing his story how he wants it to be read: a character rejecting the forced, socially acceptable life and instead living by the moment and discovering ultimate freedom.

“Into the wild in search of adventure”

McCandless’s innocence and wisdom created a paradox. Carine said that it is not weakness that makes crystal so delicate that it can break, but strength. His parents selfishly raised him by exposing their violent disagreements and unhappy marriage to McCandless and his sister. The kids eventually numbed themselves to the tense relationship and ever-pending divorce. McCandless found safety in the authors whose words he emulated and through his search for the universal truths and questions of life.

“The final and greatest adventure”

The film is made up of well-marked transcendental landmarks set against stunning scenery from his route through South Dakota, California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska and the vibrant characters he became close with along the way.
When asked why he is out there traveling all alone, McCandless responded, “To paraphrase Thoreau, don’t give me money, love, fame, faith or fairness, but give me truth.”
“I now walk into the wild.”
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