into the wild synopsis + concept

Into the Wild recounts the true story of Christopher McCandless and his rejection of a materialist, conventional life. He abandons societal existence in pursuit of true freedom. I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth. Chris measured himself and those around him by a fiercely rigorous moral code. He risked what could have been a relentlessly lonely path but found company in the characters of the books he loved, from writers like Tolstoy, Jack London and Thoreau. He could summon their words to suit any occasion, and he often would. Giving up his home, family, all possessions but the few he carried on his back and donating all his savings to charity, Christopher McCandless embarks on a journey throughout America. His eventual aim is to travel into Alaska, into the wild, to spend time with nature, with 'real' existence, away from the trappings of the modern world. In the months leading up to his Great Alaskan Adventure his travels lead him on a path of self-discovery, to examine and appreciate the world around him and to reflect on and heal from his troubled childhood and parents' sordid and abusive relationship. For two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager. Whose home is the road. So now, after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climatic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution. No longer to be poisoned by civilization, he flees and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild. Throughout his epic journey the people he meets both influence and are influenced by the person he is and bring him to the eventual and tragic realization that "Happiness is only real when shared".

My concept for the titles is to utilize the books of the authors he admired, and postcards he sent to the people he met along his journey. Christopher McCandless was well educated and often wrote his insightful thoughts down. He kept a journal to document these thoughts and experiences. I plan to use these objects, (books, postcards, and notebooks) to display the film titles in a manner that documents his inspiration for his journey.