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| Into the Wild | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sean Penn |
| Screenplay by | Sean Penn |
| Based on | Into the Wild byJon Krakauer |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Eric Gautier |
| Edited by | Jay Cassidy |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Paramount Vantage[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 148 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million[3] |
| Box office | $56.8 million[3] |
Into the Wild is a 2007 Americanbiographicaladventure drama film written, co-produced, and directed bySean Penn. It is an adaptation ofthe 1996 non-fiction book written byJon Krakauer and tells the story ofChristopher McCandless ("AlexanderSupertramp"), a man who hiked acrossNorth America into theAlaskan wilderness in the early 1990s. The film starsEmile Hirsch as McCandless,Hal Holbrook, andCatherine Keener.
The film premiered during the 2007Rome Film Fest and opened outsideFairbanks, Alaska, on September 21, 2007.
In April 1992,Chris McCandless arrives in a remote area calledHealy, just north ofDenali National Park and Preserve inAlaska. Noting McCandless's unpreparedness, the man who drops him off gives himgumboots.
McCandless sets up camp in anabandoned city bus that he calls "The Magic Bus". He is content with the isolation, the beauty of nature, and the thrill of living off the land. He hunts with a.22 rifle, reads books, and keeps a journal as he prepares his new life in the wild.
In May 1990, McCandless graduates with high honors fromEmory University. He is disenchanted with modern society after discovering he and his sister Carine were born out of wedlock.
McCandless destroys his credit cards and identification, donates his savings toOxfam and sets out on a cross-country drive in hisDatsun 210 to experience life in the wilderness. He does not tell his parents or Carine what he is doing or where he is going and does not contact them after his departure. This causes his parents to become increasingly anxious.
AtLake Mead, McCandless's car is caught in a flash flood; he abandons it and beginshitchhiking. Burning what remains of his cash, he assumes the name "Alexander Supertramp". InNorthern California, McCandless encountershippie couple Jan and Rainey. Rainey tells him his relationship with Jan is failing, which McCandless helps rekindle.
In September, McCandless arrives inCarthage, South Dakota, and works for a contract harvesting company owned by Wayne Westerberg. He leaves after Westerberg is arrested forsatellite piracy.
McCandless kayaks down theColorado River and, though told by park rangers he may not do so without a license, ignores their warnings and goes downriver to Mexico. His kayak is lost in a dust storm, and he crosses back into the United States on foot. Unable to hitch a ride, he jumps on freight trains toLos Angeles. Not long after arriving, however, he starts feeling "corrupted" by modern civilization and leaves. He is forced to resume hitchhiking whenrailroad police catch and beat him.
In December 1991, McCandless arrives atSlab City, in theImperial Valley, and encounters Jan and Rainey again. He also meets Tracy Tatro, a teenage girl who shows interest in him, but he turns her down because she is a minor. After the holidays, McCandless continues heading for Alaska.
One month later, camping nearSalton City, McCandless meets Ron Franz, a retired widower who lost his family in a car accident while he was serving in theUnited States Army. He leads a lonely life in a workshop as a leather worker. Franz teaches McCandless leatherwork, resulting in the making of a belt detailing his travels.
After two months with Franz, McCandless decides to leave for Alaska. Franz gives McCandless his old camping and travel gear, along with an offer to adopt him as his grandchild. McCandless tells him they should discuss it after he returns from Alaska.
Four months later, at the abandoned bus, life for McCandless becomes harder, and he makes several poor decisions. Trying to live off the land, he hunts down a largemoose with his rifle, but cannotpreserve the meat and it spoils within days. As his supplies dwindle, he realizes that nature can be harsh.
McCandless concludes that true happiness can be found only when shared with others, and he seeks to return from the wild to his friends and family. However, he finds that thestream he crossed during the winter has become wide, deep, and violent due to the thaw, and he is unable to cross. Defeated, he returns to the bus.
In a desperate act, McCandless gathers and eats roots and plants. He confuses similar plants and eats apoisonous one, falling sick as a result. Slowly dying, he continues to document his process of self-realization, and imagines what it might have been like if he had managed to return to his family. He writes a farewell note to the world and crawls into his sleeping bag to die.
Two weeks later, moosehunters find his body. Shortly afterwards, Carine returns to Virginia with her brother's ashes in her backpack.
The scenes of graduation fromEmory University in the film were shot in late 2006 on the front lawn ofReed College. Some of the graduation scenes were also filmed during the actual Emory University graduation on May 15, 2006.[5] The Alaska scenes depicting the area around the abandoned bus on theStampede Trail were filmed 50 miles (80 km) south of where McCandless actually died, in the tiny town ofCantwell. Filming at the actual bus would have been too remote for the technical demands of a movie shoot.[6] A replica bus used in the movie is now a tourist attraction at a restaurant inHealy, Alaska.[7]
Brian Dierker, who plays a major supporting role in the film as Rainey, had no previous acting experience and became involved in the production to be a guide for the rafting scenes.[8]
The review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reports that 83% of 200 reviews of the film were positive, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "With his sturdy cast and confident direction, Sean Penn has turned a complex work of nonfiction likeInto the Wild into an accessible and poignant character study."[9]Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 73 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four and described it as "spellbinding". Ebert wrote thatEmile Hirsch gives a "hypnotic performance", commenting: "It is great acting, and more than acting." Ebert added, "The movie is so good partly because it means so much, I think, to its writer-director, Sean Penn."[11]
It received critical acclaim and grossed $56 million worldwide. It was nominated for twoGolden Globes and won the award forBest Original Song: "Guaranteed" byEddie Vedder. It was also nominated for twoAcademy Awards:Best Editing andBest Supporting Actor for Holbrook.[12]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards[13] | February 24, 2008 | Best Supporting Actor | Hal Holbrook | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | Jay Cassidy | Nominated | ||
| Golden Globe Awards[14] | January 13, 2008 | Best Original Song – Motion Picture | "Guaranteed" | Won |
| Best Original Score – Motion Picture | Michael Brook,Kaki King,Eddie Vedder | Nominated | ||
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | January 7, 2008 | Best Film | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| Best Actor | Emile Hirsch | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Hal Holbrook | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Catherine Keener | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Sean Penn | Nominated | ||
| Best Writer | Nominated | |||
| Best Song | "Guaranteed" | Nominated | ||
| American Cinema Editors | February 17, 2008 | Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic | Jay Cassidy | Nominated |
| César Awards | February 27, 2009 | Best Foreign Film | Into the Wild | Nominated |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 13, 2007 | Best Picture | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay – Adapted | Sean Penn | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Hal Holbrook | Nominated | ||
| Cinema Audio Society | February 16, 2008 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures | Nominated | |
| Directors Guild of America Awards | January 26, 2008 | Best Director – Film | Sean Penn | Nominated |
| Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | February 1, 2008 | Best Foreign Film – English Language | Nominated | |
| Gotham Awards | November 27, 2007 | Best Feature Film | Into the Wild | Won |
| Breakthrough Actor | Emile Hirsch | Nominated | ||
| Grammy Awards | February 10, 2008 | Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media | "Guaranteed" | Nominated |
| Mill Valley Film Festival | October 14, 2007 | Best Actor | Emile Hirsch | Won |
| National Board of Review | December 5, 2007 | Breakthrough Performance – Male | Won | |
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | January 5, 2008 | Director of the Year Award | Sean Penn | Won |
| Rising Star Award Actor | Emile Hirsch | Won | ||
| Rome Film Festival | October 27, 2007 | Jury Award | William Pohlad,Art Linson andSean Penn | Won |
| São Paulo International Film Festival | November 1, 2007 | Best Foreign Language Film | Sean Penn | Won |
| Satellite Awards | December 16, 2007 | Best Original Song | "Rise" | Nominated |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | January 27, 2008 | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | The cast ofInto the Wild | Nominated |
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Emile Hirsch | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role | Hal Holbrook | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | Catherine Keener | Nominated | ||
| USC Scripter Award | February 2, 2008 | USC Scripter Award | Sean Penn (screenwriter),Jon Krakauer (author) | Nominated |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | February 9, 2008 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Sean Penn | Nominated |
TheAmerican Film Institute listed the film as one of ten AFI Movies of the Year for2007.[15][16]
National Board of Review named it one of the Top Ten Films of the Year.[17]
Into the Wild also ranks 473rd inEmpire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[18]
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[19]
In North America,Into the Wild initially opened in limited release in four theaters and grossed $212,440, posting a per-theater average of $53,110. For the next several weeks, the film remained in limited release until it expanded to over 600 theaters on October 19, 2007; in its first weekend of wide release, the film grossed just $2.1 million for a per-theater average of $3,249. As of December 25, 2008, the film grossed $18,354,356 domestically and $37,281,398 internationally. In total, the film grossed $55,635,754 worldwide.[24]
Into the Wild was released on March 4, 2008, on standardDVD,[25] Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition DVD,[26] and standardHD DVD.[27] The special edition DVD and HD DVD contain two special features entitledThe Story, The Characters andThe Experience. TheBlu-ray Disc edition was released in France on July 16, 2008.[28] The Blu-ray edition for the US was released on December 16, 2008.[29]
The songs on the soundtrack were performed byEddie Vedder, lead singer ofPearl Jam, and Jerry Hannan. Vedder won aGolden Globe forBest Original Song for the song "Guaranteed". The score was written and performed byMichael Brook andKaki King. The music at the end of the theatrical trailer is "Acts of Courage" byX-Ray Dog, a company that supplies music for many movie trailers. Eddie Vedder said that while writing the songs on the album "I spent three days giving him (Sean Penn) colors that I could paint with. Different sounds. It would be pump organ and vocal, or it would be an uptempo song. I just gave him 25 minutes of music, stuff I felt that were colors on the palette. And I really didn't think anything was gonna come out of it. Maybe a little piece or something".[30]
The abandoned and decaying bus on theStampede Trail where McCandless died became a pilgrimage destination for fans. In the 1940s, a road crew had taken the bus to a remote trail inDenali Borough, Alaska, 30 miles (50 km) from the nearest town, according to Denali Borough Mayor Clay Walker. Visitors had to cross the dangerousTeklanika River. In 2010, a Swiss woman drowned.[31] In 2019, a newlywed Belarusian woman drowned in the swollen river on her way to the site. Five Italians were rescued in February 2020, with one suffering from severe frostbite, and a stranded Brazilian was rescued in April 2020. In total, 15 search and rescue operations for visitors were carried out between 2009 and 2017.
On June 18, 2020, the bus was removed due to public safety concerns. It was air-lifted by a US ArmyChinook helicopter to an undisclosed location pending a decision about its final destination.[32][33] On September 24, 2020, the Museum of The North[34] at theUniversity of Alaska (Fairbanks) announced that it had become the permanent home of Magic Bus 142, to be restored for an outdoor exhibit.[35]
The debut of "Into the Wild", a movie directed by Sean Penn about a 24-year-old man who starved to death in the Alaska wilderness, drew a packed house Monday night.
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