4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (2007) ****

Into The Wild (2007) ****

Sean Penn has made one of the best and most memorable films of 2007 - "Into The Wild". The film tells the fascinating true story of Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a 20-year-old college graduate, who abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity, and hitchhikes across the United States to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Masterfully directed by Sean Penn, it's a deeply moving portrait of America in the 1990's, with a memorable gallery of characters. As Roger Ebert mentions in his excellent review of the film, Chris McCandless could be seen as "a heroic loner, renouncing civilization, returning to the embrace of nature. In centuries past such men might have been saints, retreating to a cave or hidden hermitage, denying themselves all pleasures except subsistence (...) This is a reflective, regretful, serious film about a young man swept away by his uncompromising choices". It's profoundly touching and unforgettable. A minor masterpiece.