"Dabbling in the Wilderness" is based on Cheryl Strayed's best-selling novel "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail". What Cheryl wants to conquer is this famous Pacific Crest Trail (Pacific Crest Trail). This "path" runs through the three states of California, Oregon, and Washington in the western United States. The southern end is the border between the United States and Mexico, and the northern end is the border between the United States and Canada. It is more than 4,000 kilometers in length. The scenery along the way is beautiful, so it attracts many hikes. Lovers. But Cheryl is inexperienced and alone, burying pots for cooking and setting up tents, and venomous beasts and disciples should guard against everything, not to mention the extensive damage to the body caused by long distances and harsh environments. It can be said that there are 10,000 reasons for her to give up soon after departure. However, perhaps she was too painful and depressed before, and this huge psychological pressure pushed her to take every step firmly. For other hikers, turning back is a warm and comfortable life, and giving up this adventure is a very cost-effective choice, but for Cheryl, there is no possibility of turning back.
Cheryl's psychological activity during this long journey is the focus of the film's narrative, and the film's precise force at this point can be described as a miraculous effect. This force is achieved by means of a large number of flashbacks. These flashbacks are not cross-editing or multi-line narratives, they are just memories that suddenly flashed through Cheryl during her travels. In the final analysis, what Cheryl wants to conquer is not the road under her feet, but her heart. A familiar poem, a familiar book, a familiar music, a familiar pattern, a familiar scene, a horse, and even an emergency whistle can remind Cheryl of a certain past experience. This is how Cheryl wants to overcome her painful memories while overcoming the difficulties and obstacles of the journey. When Cheryl went through many trials and insisted on reaching the end of the journey, she realized that these painful memories had become the past like the difficulties she had overcome all the way, and she herself showed an astonishing outbreak like this wilderness. Power and sheer wildness. The reincarnation of her body and mind allowed her to end this journey as a winner and to find her lost self.
Cheryl's actor Reese Witherspoon was nominated for this year’s Oscar, and on the surface it seems that there is not much hope for Julianne Moore ("Still Alice") and Rosamund Pike ("The Lost Lover"), and it is not even enough to come back to life at the last moment. Marion Cotillard ("Two Days and One Night"), but I really like her performance in this movie. Whether it is the anxiety and fear at the beginning of the journey, or the relief and perception at the end of the journey, Witherspoon's performance is convincing. Yes, many subtle facial expressions are also performed very well.
The use of flashback not only shows Cheryl's inner activities, but also complements the audience's background, and the most important part of this background is Cheryl's mother. In Cheryl's intermittent memories, the image of a loving mother who is full of sunshine, always smiling, and striving to prevent the misfortune of marriage from being transmitted to the next generation gradually becomes fuller. Laura Dern's performance was impressive. I first noticed that this actor was in "October Sky." The teacher played by Dern brings sunshine and warmth to people like the mother of this film. Dern was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at this year's Oscar. Although it seems to be running for Patricia Arquette of "Boyhood", I believe that the image of a mother created by Dern will surely survive in the hearts of movie fans.
Lost, maternal love, hiking, wilderness, pain, salvation, liberation... This film is used to show these elements not only flashbacks, but also the right soundtrack, especially the song "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)", singing The one is Simon & Garfunkel (yes, it is the pair that sang "The Sound Of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair" in "The Graduate"). Whether it is lyrics or music, this old song matches perfectly with the plot of the film!
The road is at the foot, but also in the heart. "Into the Wilderness" shows the self-salvation achieved through travel in a visual way. Therefore, the destination of travel is not on the other side, on this side; the meaning of travel is not in knowing the world, but in knowing oneself.
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