MovieChat Forums > Into the Wild (2007) Discussion > Into the Wild Documentary

Into the Wild Documentary

posted 8 years ago by scottisthemainevent
4 replies | jump to latest

Its on YouTube and its different than the PBS one that just shows family members crying for an hour. In this one the documentary maker follows the footsteps of Chris, the first half of the documentary is filler although at the slabs you see the old guy that did the tour in the film but the second half when he reaches Alaska is interesting.
Here is what I learned:
1. Chris ransacked a cabin on the way to the bus.
2. He had a wallet in a secret compartment in his backpack with lots of different forms of ID and 3 hundred dollars in cash.
3. The poison theory was disproved, he simply died of starvation.
4. He was not that far out from civilization, if he started a decent sized fire he could have been rescued.

[–] palisade-1 8 years ago

Sounds like you're referring to ROn Lamothe's (excellent) documentary, "Call of the Wild."

I find the whole thing interesting, because it's the only piece about Chris that puts him in the context of his time, when many other young people (like the filmmaker) were doing similar things. That era was very, very different from today's, where people are far more concerned about jobs and getting a stable start in life, much less about "meaning" and "purpose." Of course both points of view can be found in all eras, but the early '90's were at the opposite end of the spectrum from today's.

I also found the interviews with people who knew Chris earlier on - neighbors, high school coach, etc. - to be of interest, as they show a fairly happy kid, who enjoyed sports and the outdoors, and who, prior to his learning about his father's duplicity, had a relatively normal relationship with him.

However, your point (1) is only the opinion of Will Forsberg, the guy Lamothe interviewed. Police investigated and found no evidence that McCandless ransacked those cabins. Clearly someone did, but there was no indication that Chris was the culprit. The police conclusion was that the vandal was someone else, and it could have been done before Chris was in the area. The vandalism was made worse by damage from animals. There was food stored in those cabins that was not accessible to bears, but which was not taken by the intruder. Given Chris's condition, if he had broken in, he would certainly have taken the food.

[–] scottisthemainevent 8 years ago

I think he was suggesting he broke into the cabins on the way to the bus because its on the route. The police may have thought it was someone else but it will be the same police that failed to find Chris's wallet in his backpack.

[–] palisade-1 8 years ago

I think he was suggesting he broke into the cabins on the way to the bus because its on the route. The police may have thought it was someone else but it will be the same police that failed to find Chris's wallet in his backpack.

I don't think that's he was suggesting, but when you listen to all this the first time it's easy to miss some details. Forsberg pointed out that his dogsled trail led from the Stampede Trail (where Chris hiked in) to the bus (or rather, past the bus) and for some miles to the cabins and beyond. However, the cabins were not on the way to the bus, it was the other way around - the bus was on the way to the cabins -- if you went that way. Forsberg speculated that Chris could have followed their trail up to the cabins, and of course, he could have done this - but there is a lack of evidence that he actually did. For that matter, there's no reason to think all three cabins (in different locations) were broken into at the same time, or by the same person(s). In one case, there were mattresses thrown out on the ground which had plants growing up through them, which suggested they had been out since before Chris arrived in the area.

As for the police not finding the wallet, it's fair to point out that Forsberg did not find it either for several years, even though he used the backpack in the interim. The pocket in which the wallet was found was a "secret" pocket, or at least, a purposefully well-hidden one. From the exterior, there was nothing to indicate the backpack belonged to McCandless, so it was not among the items returned to his family. A number of locals had left items in the bus over the years, including some of the books with underlinings and marginal notations that Krakauer took to be Chris's notes, but were not.

There are a lot of unanswered questions in this story, which we'll never find the solutions to.

[–] scottisthemainevent 8 years ago

I have looked into it and you are right about the location of the cabins. If Chris did visit them it must have been earlier on his stay because he would not have had the energy to travel there later on when starving and exhausted, he also would have took the food or even stayed there as it would be a better location than the bus.
You could be right that it was not him at all, I do just think its easy to make people like Chris into saints because we don't know the full story. Having said all that, even if he did break into those cabins it would not suggest to me he's a bad or evil person but rather he had mental health problems that were not known. This would tie in with him not doing more to rescue himself such as starting a large fire etc.