5. Into the Wild
Into The wild is the film adaptation of Jon Krakauers book based on the inspirational life of Christopher McCandless. The 2007 film directed by Sean Penn stars Emile Hirsch as Christopher. Christopher is an intelligent graduate who is disillusioned with his life and society at large. He shocks his parents by sending his 24,000 dollar law school fund to Oxfam and decides to abandon all material things by retreating into the wilderness. The wilderness to him represents a paradise and a retreat from the trappings of modern life, a place where he will no longer feel oppressed by money or career pressures. His rebellion goes so far that he refuses to use hiking equipment or any other outdoors facilities as they are just reminders of the materialistic world. He also makes a bonfire out of his last ten dollar bills.
Where are they going? Into the wild - literally. He starts in Atlanta, Georgia, abandons his car in Arizona, hitchhikes through Northern California and then continues to travel across North America. His journey comes to an end in Alaska. He sleeps in homeless shelters, on trains and in the wild. Along the way he renames himself Alexander Supertramp. There is hope that his self-imposed isolation will end when he meets fellow non-conformists such as a hippie couple and a teenage folk-singer played by Kristen Stewart who offers him intimacy and affection but Supertramp is determined to continue on with his wanderlust. This desire that drives him will eventually lead to his demise as nature is not a kind companion.