Production year: 2007
Cast: Emilie Hirsh, Mary Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Brian Derker, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Kirsten Stewart, Hal Horbrook
Directed by: Sean Penn
the film tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a wealthy young man who, after graduating in social sciences at Emory University in 1990, donates his savings all'Oxfam and leave friends and family to escape to a consumerist, capitalist society in which he can no longer live. His concern, in part due to the bad relationship with his family and partly to the readings of nonconformist writers like Thoreau and London, led him to travel for two years in the United States and northern Mexico, under the pseudonym Alexander the Supertramp.Durante his long journey to Alaska on his way meet various characters: a hippie couple, a young thresher of South Dakota, a young hippie and an old veteran singer ended in his memoirs, which will change life with his message of freedom and brotherly love and by whom will receive the necessary training to deal with the immense lands of Alaska. Here lies the unspoilt natural beauty that, with the passage of time, to understand that happiness is not in material things that surround the man or seen as independent events and experiences in themselves, but in sharing and in full 'unconditional meeting with each other.
the book was published in the United States in 1996, while in Italy it was distributed by Rizzoli in 1997. The novel was later reissued by Corbaccio to coincide with the release of the film. the film was released in the September 21, 2007 Uniti, mentre in Italia è uscito il 25 gennaio 2008 dopo essere stato presentato alla Festa Internazionale di Roma il 20 ottobre 2007, aggiudicandosi il Premio Fastweb nella sezione Première .
Dopo aver letto il romanzo di Krakauer, Sean Penn si innamorò della storia di Christopher McCandless e si mobilitò per ottenerne i diritti cinematografici, tuttavia la famiglia McCandless si dimostrò dubbiosa nel portare la storia di Chris sul grande schermo. Il regista non si arrese, ma dovette aspettare quasi dieci anni, anni nei quali continuò a mantenere i contatti con i genitori e la sorella di Chris. Nel frattempo Penn non stette con le mani in mano ed iniziò ad abbozzare una sceneggiatura pensando a Leonardo Di DiCaprio for the lead role, and Marlon Brando for the part of Ron Franz, is also documented retracing the route taken by Chris and talking to people who had got to know him. When he was losing hope, he finally reached the consensus from the McCandless family, and could trigger the production. It was provided a budget of $ 15 million, financed by the renowned producer Art Linson and William Pohlad, the latter had produced de Brokeback Mountain. Not to disrespect Chris and his family the Magic Bus, the old Fairbanks Transit System buses dating from the forties where McCandless spent his final days, was entirely rebuilt in the most detail, from tools to the writing on the ceiling made by Chris, all due to visit the real place that Magic Bus is still in Alaska committed have been shooting the rapids of the Colorado River, partly because of the difficulty of obtain permits: Penn because he was going to rotate between the upper layers of the Grand Canyon, but it was impossible. Filming Penn took a rest, by giving the footage to his friend and collaborator Jay Cassidy to assemble everything.
The director manages to tell a very simple story about a boy searching for himself, telling of dreams, the anxiety and errors, making a road movie in which she tells the story of Chris with sensitivity, without making it look like a martyr or a modern hero but simply recounting his journey to freedom extreme. Penn takes on the big screen the story without using a chronological order but the use of flashbacks between present and past, like pieces of a puzzle depicting the cross-section of life of a young man. He is not limited to retrace the adventures of Chris on the road, but also digs deep analysis of its relationship with the family and society. Thanks also to an intense photo, the director manages to celebrate the beauty of many natural and untouched landscapes, playing with the contrasts between nature and civilization.
Watching this film has the feeling of complete and total freedom, but this has a price or to leave behind all that is was built in the good life, a choice that goes beyond the courage and that very few of us would be able to cope . That is the greatness of Christopher , which deserves to be remembered through this film.
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