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INTO THE WILD (USA)
SHOWING: Saturday, February 16 at 7:00pm
Rated PG, 148 minutes
Director: Sean Penn, Actors: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook

A Special Presentation at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival®, director Sean Penn‘s (THE CROSSING GUARD, THE PLEDGE) most ambitious film to date, INTO THE WILD, chronicles the fascinating life of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch, IMAGINARY HEROES, LORDS OF DOGTOWN), the anti-hero of Jon Krakauer‘s nonfiction book of the same name. As an actor, Sean Penn‘s performances have at times been near-transcendent; now he moves behind the camera in this incredibly moving and sensitively wrought film.

McCandless was born into wealth and privilege, but tossed it all away the day he graduated college in 1990, donating all his money to OXFAM and burning his ID. He then hit the road, encountering others who chose unconventional paths, from a farmer arrested for producing drugs, to the "rubber tramps", hippie remnants committed to cruising the open road and building a free-form de-sert commune. This journey eventually drives McCandless to lose himself in Alaska, an ultimate test inspired by the great authors – especially Tolstoy, Thoreau and London – who battled nature and the pressures of the human soul. His end is tragic, but it does not arrive before he discovers some basic truths about the human condition.

Penn is a master visual poet; the various Americas portrayed here are spectacular and haunting. The landscape photography, shot by Eric Gautier, brings remarkable new meaning and gravity to iconic mountains, deserts and snowdrifts. Emile Hirsch as McCandless is a revelation, gradually drawing us into a complex, frequently stubborn and naive character, who represents the self-doubt in us all. An extraordinary ensemble cast includes Catherine Keener (FRIENDS WITH MONEY, CAPOTE) as the hippie who sacrificed too much for her freedom, and veteran television actor Hal Holbrook as the simple father figure McCandless craves. INTO THE WILD is ultimately about the quest itself, the hunger for personal and spiritual fulfillment that, at one time or another, plagues each of us, that is most inspiring and daunting in this exceptional film.

Official website: www.intothewild.com

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