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October 26, 2007
North to the Future
Why would the college-educated son of two supportive parents leave his family, give away his money, and hit the road in search of his destiny? Readers of Jon Krakauer’s 1996 book Into the Wild took the journey with Christopher McCandless, all the way to a rusted-out, snow-covered bus in the backwoods of Alaska.
Sean Penn saw Krakauer’s book in a store and, intrigued by the cover, bought a copy and took it home. He read it twice that night and knew that he wanted to someday translate the story to the big screen. A decade later, his vision is finally here, and in the words of The New York Times, “alive to the mysteries and difficulties of experience in a way that very few recent American movies have been.”
While working on the film, Penn encouraged his friend Eddie Vedder (from Pearl Jam) to read the book. Vedder ended up composing the film’s soundtrack, in the process revealing the deeply personal connection he made with McCandless’ story. It’s a beautiful and sensitive soundtrack to a film that deserves nothing less, a film that looks like a timeless classic already.
Posted by JanetD at October 26, 2007 09:05 AM