What really make me sit still watching this movie is because the main cast is Emile Hirsch,my favourite actor. (Well,he still can't beat my hearthrobe,Al Pacino as Micheal Corleone in the Godfather I,II and III.=P)
It is undoubtful a bit disturbing movie and powerful enough. The fact that it is adapted from a story of a real person, Christopher Johnson McCandless make me feel deeply sadden.
The reviews I've read,the critics and comments make me realise one thing. He is caught in his sadness and brilliance he thought he have,hurt by the people he loved most and lost.
His refusal of using compass,map and every help he ever being given somehow showed that he is afraid or scared of hoping into something,being attached to anyone because of the fear of being hurt again.Isn't the most painful thing is to be hurt by people that you love,trust and respect most?
The Thoreau Individualist anarchism theory -major influence in the odyssey seems somehow right at the moment of hurt. Away from the society,away from the people that already,could or would hurt you. Emotion... is a powerful element of human core,soul. Pity... how a single event could actually empowered a radical change in a person.
A brilliant man,always confident,charming and kind well, even they can make mistakes. There are no one to blame here,not even him. He made those choices and lived with it. Yes, choices that comes with very uncertain consequences.
TRAGIC REALISATION
Allah has a mysterious way in working things. In Islam we are not encouraged to question His way,but we are encouraged to find answers in Al-Quran and Sunnah. As a Muslim I have doubts too. And searching for answers why things happen the way it happen could lead to winding path of uncertainties. Maybe you found the true answers,maybe you don't. Or maybe you just lost with answers that just untrue.
Life could be as hard and bitter as it could be.But being able to find the sweetness in every bitter part of life seems a thousandfold worth than anything in the world.Palestine is the best example.
For Christopher McCandless Odyssey, maybe it is a daring adventure for some people,a tragedy or as Sherry Simpson put it: This is what bothers me – that Christopher McCandless failed so badly, so harshly, and yet so famously that his death has come to symbolize something admirable, that his unwillingness to see Alaska for what it really is has somehow become the story so many people associate with this place, a story so hollow you can almost hear the wind blowing through it. His death was not a brilliant fuck-up. It was not even a terribly original fuck-up. It was just one of the more recent and pointless fuck-ups.(^ Simpson, Sherry. I Want To Ride In The Bus Chris Died In. Anchorage Press, February 7 - February 13, 2002, Vol. 11 Ed. 6.)
As for me,I see a man who is lost in his search on the real meaning of happiness. And it end with a too late tragic realisation that "Happiness is only real when shared".
p/s:
It is undoubtful a bit disturbing movie and powerful enough. The fact that it is adapted from a story of a real person, Christopher Johnson McCandless make me feel deeply sadden.The reviews I've read,the critics and comments make me realise one thing. He is caught in his sadness and brilliance he thought he have,hurt by the people he loved most and lost.
His refusal of using compass,map and every help he ever being given somehow showed that he is afraid or scared of hoping into something,being attached to anyone because of the fear of being hurt again.Isn't the most painful thing is to be hurt by people that you love,trust and respect most?The Thoreau Individualist anarchism theory -major influence in the odyssey seems somehow right at the moment of hurt. Away from the society,away from the people that already,could or would hurt you. Emotion... is a powerful element of human core,soul. Pity... how a single event could actually empowered a radical change in a person.
A brilliant man,always confident,charming and kind well, even they can make mistakes. There are no one to blame here,not even him. He made those choices and lived with it. Yes, choices that comes with very uncertain consequences.
TRAGIC REALISATION
Allah has a mysterious way in working things. In Islam we are not encouraged to question His way,but we are encouraged to find answers in Al-Quran and Sunnah. As a Muslim I have doubts too. And searching for answers why things happen the way it happen could lead to winding path of uncertainties. Maybe you found the true answers,maybe you don't. Or maybe you just lost with answers that just untrue.Life could be as hard and bitter as it could be.But being able to find the sweetness in every bitter part of life seems a thousandfold worth than anything in the world.Palestine is the best example.
For Christopher McCandless Odyssey, maybe it is a daring adventure for some people,a tragedy or as Sherry Simpson put it: This is what bothers me – that Christopher McCandless failed so badly, so harshly, and yet so famously that his death has come to symbolize something admirable, that his unwillingness to see Alaska for what it really is has somehow become the story so many people associate with this place, a story so hollow you can almost hear the wind blowing through it. His death was not a brilliant fuck-up. It was not even a terribly original fuck-up. It was just one of the more recent and pointless fuck-ups.(^ Simpson, Sherry. I Want To Ride In The Bus Chris Died In. Anchorage Press, February 7 - February 13, 2002, Vol. 11 Ed. 6.)
As for me,I see a man who is lost in his search on the real meaning of happiness. And it end with a too late tragic realisation that "Happiness is only real when shared".
p/s:
Seorang mukmin yang bergaul dengan orang ramai serta bersabar dengan kesakitan akibat pergaulan dengan mereka itu, adalah lebih baik dari seorang mukmin yang tidak bergaul dengan orang ramai serta tidak bersabar atas kesakitan akibat pergaulan itu” 
2 comments:
i just finished watching this movie, its just awesome,,, soo sad but soo real too...
A. Lfaout
As-salaamu'alaikum.
Thank you for writing this entry. I thought, there wasn't any Malay who knew about Thoreau. Indeed I'm wrong.
I agree with Chris McCandless' attempt to lead a life of solitude, but I don't think he should go that 'far' by leaving his family, friends and actual life. For me, it will be sufficient to reduce unnecessary contact with the outer world [e.g., social medias, etc.], and increase introspection of him-self.
I can say, this movie is a turning-point for me too. At least, it introduces me to my favourite author, Henry D. Thoreau. If you don't mind, you may read my review on his book, the Life in the Woods, at http://pustaka-phoenix.blogspot.com/2013/03/life-in-woods-gist-on-thoreaus-idealisms.html .
I don't think periodical disengagement from society contradicts with the teaching of al-Quran & as-Sunnah. Didn't our prophet retreat to Hira' Cave in order to understand the very essence of our existence? Later, he was given revelation. If we refer to the classical treatises by our ancient Islamic scholars, like Harith al-Muhasibi, Imam al-Ghazali and Abu Talib al-Makki (to name a few), they encourage people to spend some portion of our times to introspect [muhasabah]. The point is, an introspection session during a seclusion strengthens & straightens the heart especially during post-seclusion when one has to indulge in a society driven by impulses.
Thank you any way for reviewing the film :) . Sorry if any of my view is against yours.
Was-salaamu'alaikum.
- Aiman Phoenix.
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