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Reviews
Screen Two: Northanger Abbey (1987)
Better than the 2007 adaptation
I have read all of Jane Austen's novels several times.
Although Pride and Prejudice (1995) is my favorite adaptation of the novel, Andrew Davies has not always written good scripts. He tries to "sex up" his adaptations and includes plot spoilers. Darcy is not supposed to be shown looking in London for Wickham until Lydia reveals that he was at her wedding. Sense & Sensibility (2008) shows Willoughby having sex with Eliza at the beginning! We are not supposed to know that Willoughby is a seducer and cad until Col. Brandon reveals the truth.
Northanger Abbey (2007) implies that Captain Frederic Tilney had sex with Isabella Thorpe (she is nude under the bed sheets). Isabella was a gold digger and she would never have sex before marriage in that era. Jane Austen certainly never implied that. Catherine Morland has a dream sequence where she is in a bathtub and she later stands up nude in front of Henry Tilney. That never occurred in the novel. None of the film was shot in Bath. I would rate Northanger Abbey (2007) as a 5.
Northanger Abbey (1987) is not perfect. The Marchioness and the pageboy are not needed. The music is not period appropriate, although I do like it, especially at the end. I'm glad that much of the film is shot in Bath, although it is inaccurate to show the Roman Baths because those were not discovered in that era. The dream sequences clearly show that Catherine is obsessed with The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. I've never read that novel but I have a 46 page graphic comic that tells the story. Katharine Schlesinger is good for the role of Catherine (their names are almost the same!). Peter Firth is good as the witty Henry and I especially like the way he teases her. I like his speech (mostly from the novel) when he suspects that Catherine thinks that General Tilney murdered Henry's mother. I like his argument with the General near the end of the movie. However, my favorite scene is at the end when the beautiful music is playing, Henry and Catherine talk, and a tear falls from her eye when he kisses her.
Anyone who voted 1 for this movie has not seen Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) or Robot Monster (1953). Those movies deserve a 1. I consider those voters too extreme. I don't think this movie deserves a 10 either, so I'm giving it a 7.
Into the Wild (2007)
Survival of the fittest illustrated
I just rented this film on DVD and saw it for the first time today. What a wasted life! Yes, I realize that he had "Toxic Parents" (book by Susan Forward) but other children have had worse. His sister suffered in the same home environment and survived. Chris McCandless was an intelligent, healthy young man but so lacked common sense that he put himself in a situation which killed him in a most cruel manner. He could have died many times along his reckless journey, starting with the flash flood (I was 14 when I saw my first flash flood). He could have died in the Colorado River rapids (no helmet, no experience!), riding the rails, or wandering on skid row.
If he wanted to get his head straight, he could have kept the 24 thousand dollars to finance a spiritual journey across the back roads of America, meeting people and figuring out life. He did some of that while he worked on the farm. The problem is that he had a hatred of materialism (which seemed to drive his parents). By trying to eliminate all aspects of society, his chosen economy de-evolved from industrial, to agricultural, and finally to hunter-gatherer. That life is hard and requires special knowledge passed on from generation to generation.
I have 16 years of backpacking experience and am very aware of both the beauty and the danger that exists in the wilderness. The author of Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, is an adventurer himself and knows the subject. He also wrote Into Thin Air. In both books, foolish decisions lead to tragedy in the wilderness. If a person decides to explore such places, they need to be prepared, not just with equipment but with knowledge. Some of that knowledge can be gained from books or other people, but experience is essential. That experience shouldn't be gained from a first ambitious trek. You need to take baby steps. Learn your limits and try out your equipment in a safer environment. Chris talked to the experienced hunter but I think the moose was the first animal from which he tried to preserve meat.
One also needs knowledge of the specific wilderness. I think at one point in the film he realized that the river was higher than when he first crossed it in the winter because the snow on the beautiful Alaskan mountains was melting. People who live there know these things.
If you want to see an excellent film about another idiot who actually survived alone in the northern wilderness, watch Never Cry Wolf. I never backpacked alone.
It was hard to give this film a score. In general, I considered this film to be very well done but the subject is depressing. I probably won't watch it again. I am aware of the accusations that the film, and perhaps the book, deviated from some facts (http://www.tifilms.com/cw-sub/debunked.htm).
Chris was a city boy who probably thought he was smart enough to survive on the road or in the wilderness after graduating from Emory. You could almost say that he died not from starvation but from resentment of his parents, hubris, and irrationality. Darwin was right.