This is not a review of a film version of the Jack London classic. I reviewed an audio version of that book a while back. This latest Call of the Wild is a 2007 independent documentary about ill-fated American wanderer Christopher McCandless made by Ron Lamothe of Terra Incognita films (http://terraincognitafilms.com). I first heard about it from a link on the Wikipedia entry for Christopher McCandless and later read good reviews of it on the forum about him (www.christophermccandless.info/forum). Some people had seen it on Showtime or on their local PBS station. I enjoyed the film Into the Wild that came out in 2007 and I listened to an audio version of the book by Jon Krakauer one year later (see earlier review). Though I don’t feel I can completely relate to McCandless, I do find his story compelling. The Call of the Wild seemed like it had a different take on the story, perhaps a more personal and honest account than the Hollywood movie.
We don’t have Showtime and they weren’t showing The Call of the Wild on PBS that I knew of so the only way I could see the film was to order the DVD from the Terra Incognita website. I did so and it came in the mail a few weeks later. I figured I would just save it until I had to call in sick from work. With something fun to do on a sick day, I’d probably never call in sick, and so far I hadn’t. My wife and I decided to watch it on April 2, 2010 that was our 5-year anniversary but also a Good Friday so it didn’t feel right to do anything overly extravagant. One of our cheap date ideas is to stay in for the evening and watch a DVD and we had a DVD readily available.
We made some Act III microwave popcorn and popped in the DVD. Right away we noticed that it had no special features, only the choice between watching the film and selecting chapters. We chose the former. Each chapter begins with white text on a black background. I noticed that the chapter names, at least some of them such as the earlier “The Law of Club and Fang” and the later “The Sounding of the Call” are also the names of chapters in Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. The film is 108 minutes long and has some soundtrack of mostly rock songs such as Supertramp’s “Dreamer,” interestingly enough. It consists of Ron Lamothe following in the footsteps of McCandless, visiting the places where he went, talking to some of the people who knew him, and giving his own thoughts. He skips around a bit as he goes through the events of McCandless’ life, but I had no trouble following.
Lamothe’s film is different from Into the Wild even though it was made at the same time and Lamothe often ran into Sean Penn and the Hollywood filmmakers. It seeks to tell the true story, visit the actual locations, even travel by hitchhiking just like McCandless did. Lamothe goes to the actual homes where McCandless spent his early childhood in El Segundo, CA and most of his childhood and youth in Annandale, Virginia. The film includes many actual photographs of McCandless and chooses to go to actual over picturesque locations. Lamothe doesn’t get to interview any of the major figures of McCandless’ life such as his family because they’re working with Sean Penn. He still talks to several different people who knew McCandless casually at different points in his life.
This account is very personal. Lamothe was born in the same year as McCandless and had his own adventure in Africa after he finished college. He also has an indirect connection to McCandless. Lamothe’s film explores larger themes such as Generation X, the need for adventure, and to test oneself. He gives his own speculation about why McCandless took his journey but also lets the people he interviews give their opinions. Some are sympathetic, others, such as the Alaskans he talks to, are critical. One interviewee is actually indifferent. Lamothe doesn’t go into his own theories as much as Krakauer does in his book. The film doesn’t get into the dysfunctional family situations. Unlike the book and Hollywood film it has these montages illustrating the themes such as one of Alaska that includes a shot of Rob Morrow from Northern Exposure. The film also gives more complete backgrounds of some of the places such as Oh My God Hot Springs and the “Magic Bus.”
One problem I had with the film was a problem with the DVD. Many times it would just stop and freeze. Speeding ahead caused it to go ahead a chapter. The only way to deal with it was to roll it back a bit. The freeze points seemed to get more frequent towards the end. We were able to catch the entire film but all the active intervention with the DVD made for a less relaxing movie watching experience.
I feel that The Call of the Wild tells a more accurate story of McCandless than Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. It provides some good background information and some interesting personal viewpoints. Still, I prefer the Hollywood movie Into the Wild as a more enjoyable film to watch and not just because the DVD played more smoothly. But The Call of the Wild still made a decent cheap date for our anniversary.
A few months after we watched the DVD, Ron Lamothe emailed me (and others) asking how I found out about the film. I wrote him back and also mentioned the difficulties I had with the DVD. He offered to send a replacement copy. I accepted and received the DVD a few weeks later. It took me awhile to get around to watching it, but when I did it worked much better. Thanks, Ron.
We don’t have Showtime and they weren’t showing The Call of the Wild on PBS that I knew of so the only way I could see the film was to order the DVD from the Terra Incognita website. I did so and it came in the mail a few weeks later. I figured I would just save it until I had to call in sick from work. With something fun to do on a sick day, I’d probably never call in sick, and so far I hadn’t. My wife and I decided to watch it on April 2, 2010 that was our 5-year anniversary but also a Good Friday so it didn’t feel right to do anything overly extravagant. One of our cheap date ideas is to stay in for the evening and watch a DVD and we had a DVD readily available.
We made some Act III microwave popcorn and popped in the DVD. Right away we noticed that it had no special features, only the choice between watching the film and selecting chapters. We chose the former. Each chapter begins with white text on a black background. I noticed that the chapter names, at least some of them such as the earlier “The Law of Club and Fang” and the later “The Sounding of the Call” are also the names of chapters in Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. The film is 108 minutes long and has some soundtrack of mostly rock songs such as Supertramp’s “Dreamer,” interestingly enough. It consists of Ron Lamothe following in the footsteps of McCandless, visiting the places where he went, talking to some of the people who knew him, and giving his own thoughts. He skips around a bit as he goes through the events of McCandless’ life, but I had no trouble following.
Lamothe’s film is different from Into the Wild even though it was made at the same time and Lamothe often ran into Sean Penn and the Hollywood filmmakers. It seeks to tell the true story, visit the actual locations, even travel by hitchhiking just like McCandless did. Lamothe goes to the actual homes where McCandless spent his early childhood in El Segundo, CA and most of his childhood and youth in Annandale, Virginia. The film includes many actual photographs of McCandless and chooses to go to actual over picturesque locations. Lamothe doesn’t get to interview any of the major figures of McCandless’ life such as his family because they’re working with Sean Penn. He still talks to several different people who knew McCandless casually at different points in his life.
This account is very personal. Lamothe was born in the same year as McCandless and had his own adventure in Africa after he finished college. He also has an indirect connection to McCandless. Lamothe’s film explores larger themes such as Generation X, the need for adventure, and to test oneself. He gives his own speculation about why McCandless took his journey but also lets the people he interviews give their opinions. Some are sympathetic, others, such as the Alaskans he talks to, are critical. One interviewee is actually indifferent. Lamothe doesn’t go into his own theories as much as Krakauer does in his book. The film doesn’t get into the dysfunctional family situations. Unlike the book and Hollywood film it has these montages illustrating the themes such as one of Alaska that includes a shot of Rob Morrow from Northern Exposure. The film also gives more complete backgrounds of some of the places such as Oh My God Hot Springs and the “Magic Bus.”
One problem I had with the film was a problem with the DVD. Many times it would just stop and freeze. Speeding ahead caused it to go ahead a chapter. The only way to deal with it was to roll it back a bit. The freeze points seemed to get more frequent towards the end. We were able to catch the entire film but all the active intervention with the DVD made for a less relaxing movie watching experience.
I feel that The Call of the Wild tells a more accurate story of McCandless than Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. It provides some good background information and some interesting personal viewpoints. Still, I prefer the Hollywood movie Into the Wild as a more enjoyable film to watch and not just because the DVD played more smoothly. But The Call of the Wild still made a decent cheap date for our anniversary.
A few months after we watched the DVD, Ron Lamothe emailed me (and others) asking how I found out about the film. I wrote him back and also mentioned the difficulties I had with the DVD. He offered to send a replacement copy. I accepted and received the DVD a few weeks later. It took me awhile to get around to watching it, but when I did it worked much better. Thanks, Ron.
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