In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to
raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is
forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what
it means to be a parent.
Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, isolated from
society, a devoted father (Viggo Mortensen) dedicates his life to transforming
his six young children into extraordinary adults. But when a tragedy strikes
the family, they are forced to leave this self-created paradise and begin a
journey into the outside world that challenges his idea of what it means to be
a parent and brings into question everything he's taught them.
A story of love and extremes, the pleasurably freewheeling
“Captain Fantastic” centers on a family that has found its bliss in splendid,
unplugged isolation. Somewhere in deepest Oregon, amid the tall pines and
soaring mountains, young and old hunt and holler and drop lines from Noam
Chomsky.
The film was set against the beautiful Pacific Northwest backdrop; Captain Fantastic is easily one of the most nuanced films to come to mainstream cinema in the last few years. Its main plot addresses the struggle when everyone has the best intentions but not the same values.
ReplyDeleteI personally think the film goes a step further and awakens an internal dialogue in each of it's viewers about the way that we live our own lives based on societal influences. Furthermore, the performances given by the perfectly arranged cast enhance your investment in the story in a way that will cause you to question what right and wrong really are when you're only trying to do your best and do what you think is best for those that you love.
ReplyDeleteWell worth catching if only for a lively debate afterwards about the advantages/disadvantages of unplugged rearing and education programs for children.
ReplyDeleteI greatly enjoyed this movie, and while it veers toward the saccharine by the end, you feel like you've gone on the journey with Ben and the uniquely named children.
Finds the humor in tossing this feral pack into the real world, and raises difficult questions about just how much we're compromising to get by in a hard world.
ReplyDeleteThis is a movie that brings up a lot of very valid questions about parenting in the 21st Century and beyond. Ben doesn’t lie to his kids; he tells them anything they ask about bluntly and clinically. He’s taught them not only facts and dates but to think critically about the world and interpret the meaning of things around them.