Surferkangaroo

Well, hats off. I don’t agree with the one-dimensional reviews. I was at a festival in Phillip Island on Sunday, where Butler played. And he performed Ocean live in an extended version (20 minutes). I swear that by the final moment I couldn’t hold back my tears. Wind in my face, stunning landscape, 10,000 people around me with their mouths agape, and there he was, a man and his guitar, playing about the ocean. A moment I will carry with me forever. The song itself isn't difficult, in fact... It's the passion he puts into it that makes it magnificent. I can’t give it a 6... what a shame!

metal that feels great. I would give it a 1 on trust but I'll refrain, like the Christian Democracy party.

But at 12 years old, do you really have to worry about who’s a poser and who’s a metalhead? I wore the t-shirts my mom bought for me, I didn't care at all. I crashed with my BMX and no girl paid any attention to me because I was good at school. Kid, there's something wrong with you!

Indeed, I believe our discussion is based on the fact that we have seen the film with our own eyes and not with those of Penn or Krakauer, let alone with those (real) of the protagonist. Therefore, we are making conjectures based on personal experiences and providing very subjective keys to interpretation. But after all, it’s nice to take ownership of the things around us, translating them into our personal language. I fully understand your observations, which are motivated and well-explained; simply, as I mentioned before, we have watched the film with different eyes. Please don’t interpret this as a "running away" from the discussion (which I liked very much, as sfascia would say) but rather as an acceptance of your impressions, not sharing them entirely, but respecting them because they are expressed clearly, fluidly, and elegantly (which is something I often struggle to do).

I believe it would be better to discuss it face to face over a nice beer, or better yet, a good glass of wine. Comments and chats have a unique coldness. Expressiveness is almost zero!

@Supersoul: I don’t think we’re understanding each other at all. In the end, it’s not very easy to express one’s thoughts with a keyboard. First of all, it depends on the weight we give to the word “crazy.” I see it in a sense that is perhaps more positive than negative. As stated in the review, it’s a divisive film because it offers a vision of life that is distant from normality. I’ll comment on a couple of sentences you wrote that I don’t agree with :). “Alex relates very well to people but is convinced that interpersonal relationships, in the long run, are harmful” <- Where is that written? In my view, he’s searching for himself, seeking adventure, wanting to feel part of multiplicity rather than being bound to uniqueness. When he meets the hippie couple again, he’s overjoyed. But then his desire for adventure makes him run away. He doesn’t want to escape from them; he wants to run toward something. “nor solidify new ones (he abandons everyone he knows).” <-- See above. Sometimes discussions and the most intimate moments happen with strangers. He enjoys talking to people he doesn’t know; he likes learning more than teaching. “In the end, on his face, there’s a faint smile that makes you understand that anyway, the sky he sees alone lying on the ground is the same as the one that overshadows the people hugging each other.” <-- That seems like an exaggerated view. It seems to me that he thinks: in the end... that was what I wanted, and I enjoyed it. It seems to me the smile is because he has found the turning point.

@supersoul: "watch the movie first, because in my opinion it doesn't want to teach any truth, it's just a sincere film"<-- I fully agree with this statement... completely.

I meant to say that we don’t feel comfortable in certain situations. For example, if I found myself at a party surrounded by rich people flaunting their money by waving the keys to their Cayenne and a thousand hot girls who only talk about Prada and Gucci, I would feel like an outsider. Just like sometimes bureaucracy makes me want to run away and tell everything to go to hell. Just like reading about Mastella... In short, there are good reasons that sometimes make me feel like I’m living in a world that doesn’t reflect me. Perhaps I was wrong to generalize, but I believe everyone has felt uncomfortable in certain situations, even if they often put on polite smiles.

I should have re-read the comment before posting :s In the second line, I meant to say that it was "a sort of misfit." Also, I later explain why I don't see him as so "crazy" or so "misfit."

I am not fully convinced, Supersoul. I believe we have seen it with different eyes. And perhaps that is also a virtue of the film. There's no doubt that he is an outcast, but in the end, we all are a bit. It doesn’t seem to me that he doesn’t know how to relate to people; on the contrary, it seems that he has numerous friends. Then his quest pushes further, and it’s that beyond that most people do not cross, or do not want to cross, or are afraid to cross. One can feel very good even alone, in the middle of nowhere... but he himself ultimately finds the key to understanding life when he writes that phrase in the half-dead book. I don't see him as an outcast.