"Into the Wild" offers a good many pleasures, despite the ghastly fate of its real-life hero.
Paramount Home Entertainment's double-disc DVD
Sean Penn directs the tale of Chris McCandless, a Georgia college grad who refused to remain a rich kid. McCandless makes his way to the west, ditching his parents, his car and his identity cards. For existential emphasis, he burns all of his cash and gives away his bankroll.
McCandless thus becomes Alexander Supertramp, an "aesthetic voyager" -- a backpacker with no money and only a vague agenda of settling in Alaska. He makes his way up and down the western states and into Mexico. He harvests wheat, runs among wild horses, takes on the white waters, hangs with California hippies, all under the spell of Jack London and Thoreau.
Later, in Los Angeles, he finds himself devolved into just another homeless guy, seeking food and bed in the downtown social-services mill. Horrified, he heads north to Alaska, where his new life in the frozen wilds becomes a downward-spiraling fight for survival.
The extras track Penn's cast and crew as they make their road movie in actual places from McCandless' journey -- 30-something locations. The cinematographer responsible for the awesome nature photography is Eric Gautier, who shot the film that inspired Penn, "The Motorcycle Diaries."
The movie is set in the early 1990s. Penn, appropriately, used the rock singer Eddie Vedder as a narrator-in-song. An appreciation for Vedder's work will add considerably to the movie's charm -- or will cut the other way. Vedder says he was out of his comfort zone while writing for a character. "It took away so many choices."
McCandless' real parents worked on the film as advisers. The extras show them on the set, interacting with Penn and the actors, but they don't participate in the extras. "It was a very selfless decision they made to let the story be told," the director says.
Penn, known for bravery under fire as an actor, says of star Emile Hirsch: "I've never seen anybody have as difficult a job as an actor." There are many fine supporting performances in the film -- from William Hurt, Catherine Keener and Hal Holbrook, even Vince Vaughn -- but this is Hirsch's show, with the actor in practically every scene. Loaded with charm and a touch of hobo magic, Hirsch somehow never grates, even as the film tilts the character into some kind of Christ surrogate.
The extras are on a separate disc, presumably to keep the video and audio quality high for the theatrical DVD. The images (widescreen, enhanced) are indeed stunning. (Despite this treatment, the center-based dialogue sometimes sounds like mumbling.) Paramount also released an HD DVD version of
"Into the Wild."
The only bonus feature of note is a two-chapter making-of documentary by DVD regular Laurent Bouzereau that adds up to about 40 minutes. Unfortunately, there are no extras solely dedicated to McCandless' story or writings. Nor is there the "20/20" segment that brought this story to national attention. We'll give the DVD a pass on the last point, as ABC News last month released the "Into the Wild" segment
Many DVD producers just don't seem to get it -- that people who watch a film like this are hungry for information about the real-life subject, not the costume designer.
The making-of is standard issue. It does the familiar round-robin of praisery for all involved, mixing the publicity-friendly interviews with general information about Chris McCandless. The interviews were done before the movie came out, and so the stars speak as if you know nothing about the film.
Penn reflects on his film numerous times in the making-of, but doesn't do a commentary. Anyone who enjoys the film should have a look, but don't expect much.
Also circling the DVD blog's players this week are the fine documentary "My Kid Could Paint That," Disney's sparkling revival of "101 Dalmations" and Warner's latest visit to "Forbidden Hollywood."
Pick of the week: My Kid Could Paint That
Dog of the week: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
New and notable:
Ben 10 season 3 (Warner)
The Billy Wilder Film Collection (MGM)
Blood +, Vol. 1 and Part 1 (Sony)
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (Warner)
Flight 29 Down season Two (Discovery Kids/Genius Products)
Human Giant (Paramount)
Into the Wild (Paramount)
The Love Boat (Universal)
Mrs. Doubtfire (Fox)
My Kid Could Paint That (Sony)
101 Dalmatians (Disney)
Forbidden Hollywood, Vol. 2 (Warner)
Things We Lost in the Fire (Paramount)
12 Angry Men (MGM)
Complete list of today's DVD releases on my pal Harley's site, onvideo.org
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