Into the Wild: Film Characterization

This essay was written as part of my course 'Advanced Scriptwriting for film & television'.

Based on a real-life story, the movie ‘Into the Wild’ features the tale of Chris McCandless and his tragic ending at a very young age.

The film starts at a point where Chris is left into the Alaskan wilderness by an unknown companion on a ford pick-up. At this moment, it becomes clear that the main protagonist (Chris) is leaving for a journey where his end is unknown as there are no signs of civilization as he walks INTO THE WILD.

Trenching his way through knee-deep snow, Chris walks with his back-pack and starts a new life away from the utilitarian values of human civilization, far far away from any sign of human life.

As fate had it for Chris, he finds an abandoned bus sitting by itself in the wilderness. The loneliness, emptiness and characteristic void faced by the protagonist is made obvious by the emptiness of the surroundings he chooses to live in.

Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. As Chris settles into a life surrounded by his loneliness, the movie turns back in time where the reasons for his solemn characterization are established.

The disturbed nature of Chris is soon attributed to the turbulence within his family. A spark of genius spills into the oblivion as Chris narrates his displeasure over his parent’s decision to spend their lives together as a happily married couple. He narrates about his parents and says:

“They are about to graduate. They are about to get married. Their kids, they are dumb. All they know is they are innocent, they would never heard anybody. I want to go upto them and say stop. Don’t do it. She is the wrong woman. He is the wrong man. You are going to do things you cannot imagine you would ever do. You are going to do bad things to the children. You are going to suffer in ways you have never heard of. You are going to want to die. I want to go upto them in the late May sunlight but I don’t do it. I want to live. I take them up like male and female paper dolls and bang them together at the hips. I say do what you are going to do and I will tell about it.”

His indifference towards worldly pleasures is made obvious when he refuses to accept a new car as a graduation gift by his parents. The after-party in itself is marred by the subsistence of the tarnished relations as Chris protests every idea garnered by his parents. The underlying subtext is the premise for an unnerving destruction of family ties as Chris makes it clear that he doesn’t need anything from them. A subsequent narrative by Carine makes the character traits more obvious:

“Chris measured him and those around him with an obviously rigorous moral code. He risked what could have been a relentlessly lonely path, found company in the characters of the book he loved. From writers like Tolstoy, Jack London, he could summon their words to suit any occasion and he often would … It was inevitable that Chris would break away and when he did he would do it with characteristic immoderation.”

It is by choice that the film-maker has oriented towards giving away the finer details about the protagonist and his emotions as the constant narratives work towards creating an indomitable understanding of Chris’s life. It is made obvious that he suffers from strained relations, an emptiness from within, a desire to experience change and learn from what one goes through in real life. He's just simply insubordinate, and chooses to lose track of time.

With the passage of time, he establishes himself as a complicated, flawed, courageous and loving person. The character in itself is so powerful that the movie surrounds his individualistic traits arising from within as the sub-plots are centered on his charismatic persona that make the movie all so powerful.

Within the course of his journey, Christopher develops his individuality through living experiences as he meets a series of people at different junctures.

“Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame and fairness … give me truth”

At one point, Christopher makes a very subliminal hint towards the emotional void facing his life. When the hippie makes a reference to the turbulence in his love life, Chris embodies his usual enigma as he says:

“Well, some people feel like they don’t deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps from the past”

In another instance, when he groups with a bunch of farmers, he makes an even more obvious point as he says:

“Because you know what I don’t understand? I don’t understand why, why people are so bad to each other, so often. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Judgement. Control. All that you know, parents and hypocrites. Politicians and pricks.”

A lot of intuitive information on the deepness within the characteristic disturbance is stipulated by means of a narrative delivered by Chris’s sister. In a thought-provoking yet disturbing narrative mid way through the film, the delicacy and strain within Chris and his family relations is made evident. From them being bastard children, to the father’s arrogance and his mother’s mistress nature, the tumultuous truth of everyday life seems to be disturbing enough to justify the decisions of Chris to move away from his family. This particular narrative is an important link into why the character is crafter in such animosity.

Background Characterization

Albeit, the movie dwells on describing the character in excruciating detail, there are some aspects of the character that are left within the sub-text for the viewer to understand.

Chris McCandless’ journey began in part as a rebellion against what he saw, whether right or wrong, as the false and unfulfilling lives of his parents. His distinctive intelligence, enthusiasm and likeability, as well as his drive to separate himself with a sense of nobility from the warring and unhappiness of his parents are contained within the sub-text.

Through the visual narrative, implied imagery and storyline, Chris comes across as a conscientious, impartial, impulsive, independent yet argumentative being; although the plot does not make it obvious in any manner. These characteristic features which are hidden in a manner actually form the base of other traits.

Thus, a stimulus of sorts provides for a strong background characterization where there is a spectrum of depth in the emotions played by the actor (Emile Hirsch). The film reflects upon a very strong character development as the journey continues into the unknown.