Sean Penn's 'Into the Wild' a physical, spiritual journey now on DVD

When Christopher McCandless walked “Into the Wild” of Alaska in 1992, he surely had no idea his actions would spawn a bestselling novel by Jon Krakauer and a Golden Globe Award-winning movie written and directed by Sean Penn.

Knowing that McCandless died trying to escape the system made me a little guilty watching a corporate-produced film about his life, a film called “Into the Wild.” But what a movie. 

The New York Times called the film “deeply affecting … with cinematography so beautiful it makes the Alaskan landscape seem seductively otherworldly.”

“Into the Wild” is based on the true story of McCandless’ two years of cross-country wandering. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, the 24-year-old abandoned all his possessions, gave his $24,000 life savings to charity and began hitchhiking across the U.S. under the pseudonym “Alexander Supertramp.”

The film is as much about the people McCandless met as it is about his journey. The intense personal interactions and character development that the book, also titled “Into the Wild,” lacks are more than made up for by the movie.

Emile Hirsch does a masterful job portraying McCandless, the “aesthetic voyager whose home is the road,” as McCandless referred to himself in one of his many diary entries.

Over the course of filming, Hirsch steadily lost 40 pounds to keep true to his character’s slow starvation in the Alaskan wilderness.

Waiting for Hirsch’s weight loss was only part of the reason filming took eight months. From the start, Penn was intent on filming entirely on location.

The crew retraced McCandless’ journey, traveling from the Gulf of California to Carthage, S.D., where McCandless harvested grain; from kayaking the Grand Canyon to crossing the Arizona desert; from California’s Salton Sea to a hippie-haven called the Slabs, near Niland, Calif., where wanderers live on the concrete foundations of an abandoned air base. Finally, McCandless set out for Alaska.

The movie also elaborates on McCandless’ childhood spent in a broken home, background information that helps explain why he wanted to escape so badly.

Penn is able to capture McCandless’ spiritual journey as easily as he does the physical one. A single tear running down McCandless’ face speaks volumes more than any dialogue could when he realizes he will die alone after trying for years to escape people and personal connections.

“Into the Wild” was released on DVD March 4.