CHASING THE ENDLESS SUMMER

12 movies to fire up your traveling spirit By Karlo C. Cleto

Published in StellaMarch 2009
Summer is upon us once again, and with it comes that inescapable urge to break free from the stifling routines of everyday. But while the coming of summer is sure to fire up in us that desire to pack and run to some strange, faraway land, the reality is we often can't just leave the real world and all its torments behind. Thankfully, that particular class of cinema known as the travel movie is there to help us attain that much sought after sense of escape, if only for the 90+ odd minutes that we spend watching them. The travel movie, strictly speaking, is not so much a genre of film like drama, comedy or horror are, but rather a sub-category that makes use of all kinds of genre devices. Sofia Copollas quietly melancholic Lost in Translation and Eli Roths gruesome Hostel, perhaps the two most dissimilar films imaginable, are both travel movies. Whichever form taken by the travel movie however, some universal themes are present. Travel, when it is done for its own sake, always aims to be a transformative experience. And like the journeys they depict, travel movies invariably are about transformation and discovery. The best travel movies take us to places new and exciting, and in the process help us to discover aspects of ourselves that we might not have known about before. Travel movies counterpoint geographic displacement with the central characters inner journey towards some significant personal goal. By providing this moving geographic context, which is more often than not some unfamiliar and exotic place, our sharing of the main characters inner struggle becomes keener, and his or her personal battles and victories become our own. Here are twelve travel movies that should help you get away this summer, even if you find yourself stuck on a couch. Into The Wild (2007) Based on the best-selling non-fiction book, this film adaptation by Sean Penn is about Christopher McCandless, a young student who gives up his material possessions and all other aspects of his worldly life to live as a roving nomad in the wilderness of North America. While the ending is tragic (in a painfully comic way), you arent left with any doubt that in the end Christopher did achieve that freedom that cost him everything. The beautiful natural landscapes of the American Far North provide an elegiac context to the main characters struggle. Before Sunrise (1995) This date movie favorite follows the serendipitous meeting of two young travelers and would-be lovers, one American and the other French, and their conversation while walking around the stunning city of Vienna. The movie shows us that some of the most meaningful travel adventures can take place without you really doing anything more than being somewhere new, and how the bright eyes of travelers are the same as those of people in love. The Darjeeling Limited (2007) Director Wes Anderson is known for his quirky, darkly comedic explorations of family conflict and adult angst, and this story of three brothers on a journey to find their long-lost mother in beautiful and exotic India is arguably his best work since Rushmore.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) This instant classic mock news feature is full of bathroom humor and playground race jokes, but underneath its uncomfortably offensive exterior is a sly investigation of a lot of what is wrong in the only remaining national superpower. Never before has a brawl between two hairy naked men been so disgusting and at the same time so funny. Borat shows us how it often takes the eye of an outsider to reveal the failures that so many take for granted. Any Indiana Jones movie Credit Indy for making kids around the world want to grow up to become adventurers and treasure hunters. This classic film series helped people across the globe to develop a love for the diverse cultural landscape of the world we live in. Hostel (2005) Not exactly a movie to inspire a person to visit Eastern Europe, but for sheer guts (literally) and shock value, Hostel is a film to remember. Not for the faint of heart. Motorcycle Diaries (2004) This story about a young Che Guevara riding through South America on a motorcycle is a perfect demonstration of how travelling can change the way we see ourselves and the rest of the world. The film is based on Guevaras own journal which he kept with him on his journeys. Y Tu Mam Tambin (2001) This tale of adolescent impetuousness and sexual awakening is perhaps one of the raunchiest travel movies ever. In his career-breaking role, Gael Garca Bernal plays a sex-crazed teenager on a trip with an equally horny friend and his heartbroken cousin-in-law to find a mythological beach in Mexico. Lost in Translation (2003) Sofia Copollas beautifully melancholic opus shows how a person can become imprisoned by the tedious dysfunction of everyday life and how casting oneself into strange, new places with strange, new people can provide the escape that may very well give ones life new meaning. Bill Murray perfects his depressed older man comic persona as he and the lovely Scarlett Johansson share an awkward romance and a taste of modern Tokyo. The Beach (2000) Loosely based on Alex Garlands classic novel, this film by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle follows a young backpacker (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) on a search to find the perfect beach. The hero does find that beach, but finds that his romantic paradise isnt quite as perfect as he imagined it to be. The movie, while certainly grim, features stunning images of Thailand that have made many backpackers around the world book flights to Southeast Asia. Roman Holiday (1953) Audrey Hepburn turns in an Oscar-winning performance as a princess pretending to be an ordinary wideeyed girl walking around Rome. Gregory Peck plays a journalist pretending to be just a friendly companion around town. Inevitably, the two fall in love. The Endless Summer (1966) Bruce Browns classic documentary pioneered the surf movie genre and helped the world become more aware of this beautiful sport. The film follows a pair of surfers on a round-the-world mission to find and ride the perfect wave. The film ends with the idea that if one had enough time and resources, one could follow summer around the world thus making summer endless- a thought that has resonated in the hearts of millions of travelers through the years.