Based on a true story and the bestselling book by Jon Krakauer. Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Just months after arriving there he turned up dead. Written and Directed by Sean Penn. In theaters Sept, 21 2007.

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER MCCANDLESS

MOVIE TRAILER



Eddie from Ohio - Sahara
(MP3)

chris was no philosopher
he was an ordinary man
twenty-four and running out of room
a rifle and a pack
and a sack of rice on his back
guided by tolstoy and the moon
into the yukon he would go
in search of a higher truth
christopher would make a break
with his world
but he never escaped his youth

sahara will never be the south of france
obvious with the rising sun
if i had no home
i'd build one in the sand
if i didn't have a love i'd find me one
if i didn't have a love i'd find me one

four months alone in the ice and snow
is a long way from annandale
locals and trappers and eskimos
knew better than to trust that trail
at one with the earth he loved so well
a retreat from civilization
hunger and emptiness took their toll
chris mcandless passed us by...

CHORUS

Edited by jshann on 06/25/2007 10:12:37 MDT.

Looks interesting. Touches upon something that I think everyone here yearns for. But I'm torn about whether he was doing something wise or foolhardy. Very few people here at BPL really know what it means to completely live off the land, and if we tried few of us would survive. I wonder if it's even possible to live naturally off land any more in places not as harsh as Alaska.

I read the book. Tragic, but foolish. Long on romanticism, short on common sense. Perfect for Penn.

Edited by skinewmexico on 06/25/2007 21:46:30 MDT.

I thought it was a great book, I had no idea a movie was in the works. Foolish? Brave? Selfish? Tragic? Hopelessy romantic? Sure, it sparks a great debate, but regardless, I think his story is inspiring in many ways.

Why Sean Penn of all people?
Still, the trailer looks alright. I was suprised that Chris was shown with his rifle I would have assumed that would have been censured in the movie for political reasons, but thankfully money is stronger than politics. I will definatly check this movie out.

Having read the book literally about 7 or 8 times, I am definitely going to see the movie. I have been waiting for it to come out since I heard about it a long time ago. But...even from watching the trailer, I think there is going to be a lot of things in this movie that didn't happen, or are exaggerated to make the movie more "exciting". I don't recall Chris ever getting thrown off of a train and kicked repeatedly, as seen in the trailer. He was questioned at gun point by a bull, but the book mentions nothing about being beat up.

Another thing that I saw in the trailer is what looks like a love scene with a girl. I really hope there is no cheezy and stupid love story in this movie, even if it is only for a few minutes. First of all, I am sick of every single movie having to have a love scene/story, and secondly, the book specifically mentions that there is no known record of Chris being intimate with any woman and that chastity and purity were morals that he help in high regards.

The final thing I noticed was the scene with him going down the roaring rapids in what looks like a white water kayak. Quoted directly from the book:

"While he was in town, he noticed a secondhand aluminum canoe for sale and on an impulse decided to buy it and paddle it down the Colorado River to the Gulf of California, nearly four hundred miles to the south, across the border with mexico.

This lower strecth of the river, from the Hoover Dam to the gulf, has little in common with the unbridled torrent that explodes through the Grand Canyon, some 250 miles upstream..."

"Emasculated by dams and diversion canals, the lower Colorado burbles idolently from resevoir to resevoir..."

Seems a little bit different than the master whitewater kayaker navigating the class 5 rapids pictured in the trailer.

Despite my criticism, I am looking forward to seeing the movie. It looks way better than anything that has come out recently, I just hope it sticks fairly close to what the book says actually happened and doesn't exaggerate too much.

I read the book for the first time this week, finishing it this morning. Wow. What a character. I saw Roman Dial's name mentioned. It seems many Alaskans think his balls/brains ratio was a little too high. I'm looking forward to the movie.

Edited by jshann on 06/28/2007 14:50:12 MDT.

I myself read Into the Wild, and personally I love it. Krakaur has a unique style that I find is descriptive yet it's still very easy to find yourself flying through the books in a day or two.

Personally I believe that I understood a little bit of what may have gone on in McCandless' mind, as I suppose many minimalist backpackers would, and though he may have been foolish on any terms, he worked in an area that, as dare I say Ryan Jordan may have found last year, has very very small margin forever. But at the same time that I love the book and the story, I really do not want to see a single preview or picture of the movie, for I don't want my imagination of the truth to be put down by whatever a movie director and producer saw fit to portray. The one picture I know of the real McCandless is the one I hope will stay in my mind, of him, posing in front of his bus, bearded, and a smile that was utterly carefree.