| Author | Message | ||
     Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
Just watched this, and I think it's one of the best films of the decade. I think it was Proto (God bless you, fella) who called this a modern masterpiece here, and I have to agree. I've never seen anything quite like it. One minute I was having a Proustian rush and feeling nostalgic about the twenty-something me who ran 50 miles a week, constantly tested himself, and was scared of nothing, then I was suddenly feeling massive emotions towards my family and the relatively calm life I have now. Into the Wild is a hugely profound film, deeply complex (emotionally) and featuring stellar performances from the entire cast. And Sean Penn's direction - as always - is simply awesome. Please, please, please see this film. Or, if you alreay have, give me your comments. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.87.15 |
I've not yet seen it, but I do recall it had great reviews on its release, so those, together with your glowing report above, will ensure I get to see this. | ||
| Michael_kelly (Michael_kelly) Username: Michael_kelly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 70.31.58.51 |
Ye, I thought it incredible. Hal Holbrook nearly broke my heart. And Eddie Vedder's soundtrack is achingly beautiful. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.69.61.76 |
I loved it and I was slightly surprised I loved it, as from the trailer it made it look like Penn was just fishing for Oscars. But it's an incredible film, a real journey full of beauty and - ultimately - hope. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.19.103.122 |
Yes it was a cool film. To anyone interested in Pearl Jam, they just released a remastered special vinyl and CD edition of TEN. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.56.110 |
I'll get on to it. I miss the years when I was scared of nothing - it was a wonderful feeling. | ||
| Michael_kelly (Michael_kelly) Username: Michael_kelly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 70.31.58.51 |
Karim, Really? That's great. I saw Vedder in concert last year and it was phenomenal. He did the whole soundtrack, some Pearl Jam stuff, and a bunch of covers. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.19.103.122 |
Michael- Would have been great to see that! TEN is definatly in my top ten as regards to great albums. Haven't decided if I'm going to invest in the large vinyl package (expensive!)- but I can see how that album needs some remastering. I think it was recorded in a week or so. Saw PJ 2 years ago and it was great, (after that terrible disaster in Roskilde in 2000 where 8 people died at the show.) And I saw the Mirrorball project which was Neil Young and PJ without Vedder. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.191.186 |
Zed, have you read the book (same title) the film is based on? It's well worth finding a copy. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
I haven't, Huw, but I'll make a point of doing so now. | ||
| Michael_kelly (Michael_kelly) Username: Michael_kelly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 70.31.58.51 |
Karim, I saw PJ a couple years back, as well. It was great! I'm envious you saw the Mirrorball project. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.151.125.173 |
Pearl Jam...? gcw,...  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.241.143 |
Pearl Jam are great - Vedder's voice is amazing. TEN is actually one of my favourote albums of all time. the "ballad" BLACK is utter perfection. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.183.83 |
Zed, if you liked the film (which I agree was excellent), you'll find the book fascinating. It's by Jon Krakauer. He also wrote a book about his part in an ill-fated Everest climb in the 90s. | ||
| Barbara Roden (Nebuly) Username: Nebuly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 216.232.176.111 |
Like Huw, I heartily recommend the book of Into the Wild (haven't seen the film version yet). It might not be readily apparent, but one of the characters in my story 'Northwest Passage' was based to a large extent on Christopher McCandless, the idea of a young man from a good background abandoning everything in search of . . . something, something pure and clean and untainted by everyday life, and it ultimately costing him more than he was probably prepared to pay for the exchange. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.183.83 |
Barbara, I remember asking you about the possible influence of McCandless on 'Northwest Passage' back when Acquainted with the Night was published - a friend had read your story and told me it reminded her of Krakauer's book. ('Northwest Passage' is a terrific story, by the way, in case anyone here hasn't read it.) I thought Emile Hirsh did a good job in the lead role. There were a few things that felt different to the way I'd pictured them while reading the book, but overall it's a good adaptation. | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.230.239.233 |
I bought the soundtrack before I saw the film. Something about it, just called to me, and I was so pleased to find that it totally resonated, and also primed me for the movie... (I don't think I've ever done that before.) I had mixed feelings about the film though. Overall, yes, I liked it, but in places I felt it was misguided. Specifically that some of the choices in the way that the psychology of main guy was characterized was misguided... Kinda slipping between the lines of truth and fiction in a way that felt forced and contrived... Not surprisingly, the moment that made me understand the whole thing - the moment that made me totally believe - was at the very very end when they showed the photo of the real guy... I'd be very curious to know how certain elements compared to reality... For example, I couldn't help but feel that his journey couldn't have been made by just anyone who had a philosophical quest for that pure untainted experience, but that there must have also been a little more to it. A little bit of mental illness? Or not necessarily illness, but something... I know that sounds naive for me to say that, but I don't mean it in the way that it probably comes across... The thing is, I know guys that have taken such journeys. Journeys that are not just about leaving the fucked up society we're all slaves to, but also about making decisions to ultimately put their lives at risk, and more often then not, to do it alone. And most of those people, have been about 89% something I could relate to, but then an extra 11% of a little off. Outsiders in a true sense. And for me, I just didn't buy Emile in that way. It seemed too much about the philosophy plus running away from a way too simplified fucked up family. Not enough about him as a real outsider. Assuming he was one... That's not to say that I didn't buy what I felt was genuinely behind the film, and central character. I did. But in some ways, it felt sensitized, simplified, and maybe even dummed down, and in other ways, trying to be over the top profound, and in all those instances, felt contrived for me in a way that just felt like a lie. Like I said, seeing that photo was what brought me to tears. Seeing how happy he looked. How in his element. Even though at the time that he took that photo, he would have already known he was going to die there... In that one shot, the whole spirit that the film seemed to be reaching for (but not quite hitting) was present... Nonetheless, I liked the film as a whole. Mostly because I think I understood why Sean probably made most of the choices he did - I think overall, it was about making the film and character accessable. Wanting people to get it, without asking them to get something, they probably would otherwise feel too uncomfortable to want to try and get inside... And fuck, it was beautiful... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Yeah, I can't stop listening to the soundtrack. it's beautiful. I felt that Emile Hirsh did a great job in the film. His character is slightly unlikeable, and certainly to me seems to have a thread of madness running through him. But it's a quiet madness, not displayed using the usual Hollywood tics and stutters. Just eyes that shine a little too much, a weird constant smile, and the refusal to remain with people when it seems like he might get too comfortable. I thought the film was flawless. It's one of the few that I've rewtched immediately after it had finished. |