Into the Wild
Into the Wild
Travel was the main theme of life in my 20’s. It was
inevitable, given I was a first generation Australian to Scottish parents. Parents
who took my sisters and I to Scotland to live when we were kids, then brought
us back to Australia where we continued to grow up. But my thirst for
exploration and curiosity of other countries and cultures never left me. I was
always exposed to the world on some level before I went overseas again. And in
time for my coming of age, I envisioned a one-year (or longer) trip around the
world, with at least three key countries on my list.
I had started this trend in 2002 with my trip to Thailand,
and it was in early 2003, as I neared the end of my traineeship, that I decided
to venture out into the world on my own. I had always wanted to return to
Scotland to see my relatives again, and I was also keen on spending time in
England, where I also had extended family and where I knew I could pick up work
in a pub fairly easily. But the ultimate destination for me was America, and my
way to spend as much time there as I could was through the Camp America
experience.
For twelve months, from October 2003 to October 2004, I spent
time in the UK and America, travelling, working and living. I would call it “My
Year Away” and I started to write about the entire trip many years back. I
almost finished it, and I might one day. Not sure if I will publish it, as it
was a highly personal experience in many ways. But I’ve already touched on some
stories from that year in these movie reviews, and I will share a few more now,
as I also give you my review for “Into the Wild”
Sometimes, a movie comes along that hits all the right notes,
and you could swear it was made with you in mind. Ever felt that way watching a
movie before? Where you just get it? The
story, the characters, the scenes, the music... it all speaks to you on some
level where you can simply connect with the experience of viewing the movie.
One of those movies for me is Into the Wild. Released in 2007, I had just
returned from my third time on summer camp and I felt like my traveling days
were on hold for at least a couple of years. I needed to finish my Youth Work studies,
get a full-time job and I was in a serious relationship. My feet were itchy to
get back on a plane and see more of the world, so when I saw the trailers for
this film I knew I had found my fix.
There were two major elements of this film, besides it’s topic
of travel, that grabbed me immediately. Firstly, it was directed by Sean Penn,
who I was starting to get more interested in as an actor. I knew he had
directed a few smaller films on the side of his major acting roles, but the
look and feel of Into the Wild was a huge endeavour for him to take on as a
director, and I was excited to see what he would bring to the story. And
secondly, almost all the music in the film is written and performed by Eddie
Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam. I had been following this band since I was
twelve, and as each new album came out every two years or so, I followed them
on their musical odyssey. I was excited to hear songs written and sung just by
Eddie Vedder alone, as his style and voice would suit the stories of a young
guy travelling the world perfectly.
The movie is based on the true-life story of Chris
McCandless, played here by Emile Hirsch. A bright, young college student who
graduates in 1990, and despite passing with honours and the strong expectations
of his parents to follow in their footsteps, he has another agenda. With a
couple of months’ time up his sleeve before he would need to commit to
something, Chris hits the road, and with no hesitation at all, burns the cash
in his wallet, cuts up his ID’s and bank cards, ditches his car and hits the
road on foot. With just a backpack and his wits, he roams the wilderness of the
United States, and along the way meets an assortment of characters. His ultimate
destination was Alaska, and his arrival here is interwoven with scenes of how
he got there over a two-year period.
Chris’s motivation to travel is explored through his
obsessive nature to read the works of the greatest writers of all time, and in
his conversations of exchange with the characters he meets along the way. He
talks about disconnecting from society, living in the wild, and just being
free. This adventure is met with many different opinions, and it all comes
together through great narration work by Chris’s sister Carine (Jena Malone)
who sounds like she knows Chris better than anyone, but still feels left behind
when he doesn’t make contact with her. In fact, so determined is Chris to cut
himself from his family and society in general, he walks his journey alone,
never remaining in one place or in a relationship with any one person for long.
His destination is Alaska, and his love will be reserved for his relationship with
nature and living in the moment. Nothing will stop him from getting there.
The whole film is beautifully made, and with the perfectly
arranged soundtrack by Eddie Vedder accompanying the ever-changing landscapes
Chris takes us to, you’ll feel like you’re on the journey with him. I devoured
the film from start to finish, finding a lot I could resonate with in the character
of Chris and understanding his motivations to travel very well. I had put a lot
of thought into my own reasons why travel would be so important in my life, particularly
in my twenties. My Year Away was a personal journey, to see the land of my
roots, reconnect with relatives or meet some for the first time, and visit
America. I was able to achieve all of that, and more, in a short amount of
time. Not every day was a holiday, and some moments and experiences were tough,
lonely and completely life changing, but overall, the year I travelled solo was
the best experience of my life, in a very deep and personal way.
I returned to Australia with a
wider perspective, a greater understanding of myself and my place in the world,
and a whole new outlook on society. Hence, this movie spoke volumes to me. And
as inspiring as Chris’s travels are, his story is also heartbreaking in many
ways. If you’ve seen the film, you know how it ends, and it becomes a case of Chris
wishing too strongly for something and getting more than he could ever handle. But
before his ultimate destination, he overcomes many small challenges along the
way. He embodies the face of a soul liberated but also burdened by extensive travel.
Setting out for any long period of time is going to change you, and the way you
view the life you came from. Returning is tough, and the reason why so many
continue to travel, and why a select few never come home.
I certainly experienced this
sense of detachment on My Year Away, most of all towards the end, when I had an
unexpected stop in Boston. I had three days to pass before my flight back to
England, and with some spare time up my hands I visited the town I had wanted
to see for many years. Also on this trip, I was introduced to the writing of Jack
Kerouac. If you’re not familiar with him, he wrote a little classic called “On
the Road”. Kerouac was part of the Beat Generation of the 1950’s and 60’s; a
group of writers, poets and lovers of Jazz music who frequented the San Francisco
scene, sat around in apartments reading books and writing about their travels
across America. They were called the Beat generation, because they lived off
what they owned, which was usually just a few paperback novels, a typewriter
and the spare cash in their pockets. But when Kerouac published On the Road – his
extremely detailed and first-hand account of life on the road for seven years –
it became a best seller and made Kerouac something of a celebrity.
I read On the Road first, and was
blown away by it’s depth, scope and passion. It was the inspiration for me to
write about my own travels, and I read most of Kerouac’s books in the years
that followed. And when I was in Boston for those few days on the last leg of
my trip, broke and on my own, I went to a library. It had an extensive collection,
and I headed straight for the books of The King of Beats. I found a book about Kerouac
and an in-depth analysis of his work, and there were several quotes that stood
out to me. I photocopied those pages, and inserted them into my own writings
about my trip, because they summed up exactly how Kerouac experienced life as a
traveller, and how I was feeling at that stage of my travels;
…“he always fantasised that in some new destination he might
find a balance between his craving for novelty and companionship and the
reclusive side of his nature”…
…“perhaps Kerouac’s mind was already converting those
sixty-three days into fiction, beginning to give them a retrospective glow”…
…“writing was the defence against the feelings of emptiness
and despair that overcame him whenever his life seemed to be standing still”…
By 2007, with the bulk of my working-travelling
days behind me, the vision of Kerouac scorched onto my own creative mind, and
this new film Into the Wild, I felt I’d come full circle in a way. Part of me
never wanted to stop travelling, as I knew that kind of freedom, spontaneity
and exploration would never be the same in a life spent in once place. But that
was something I had to accept, and it would take one more trip to America and
working on a summer camp in 2010, as well as getting to watch a different kind
of movie, that helped me realise my extensive wanderings of the world would be put on the shelf, for a
new kind of adventure – service to others.
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