When he pits his youngest daughter Zaja against her two much-older cousins to see who knows the most about the Bill of Rights, he is openly mocking the boys’ traditional education and how it has not prepared them to speak nearly as eloquently as his 7-year old daughter. He values self-education and rigorous discipline of the mind and body.īen’s catchphrases are “Power to the people” and “Stick it to the Man.” But, paradoxically, he does not seem to really believe that all people are equal, nor that should they share power equally. Exceedingly secular, he openly disparages organized religion and celebrates Noam Chomsky Day in lieu of Christmas. He is a huge proponent of the sciences – he tells his teenage daughter that he is going to quiz her on M-theory – and he eschews religion. Communist ideals play a role in his society, but he appears to dislike any group system larger than the family unit, and it’s hard to imagine him as a participant in a communist system wherein he’s not the leader. His entire self-sustainable lifestyle is a rejection of capitalism, so he is far from that idealogy’s biggest fan. He believes strongly in living with nature, hunting one’s own food and taking responsibility for one’s survival without being dependent on larger society. Viggo Mortensen as “Ben” in Captain Fantastic (2016)īen’s actual ethical system is revealed in bits and pieces throughout the film. But in this big jumble of big ideas, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what Ben and his family believe. Mao, Stalin, Trotsky, Plato and Chomsky are just a sampling of the never-ending stream of important figures and theories that run throughout this film. This rigorous home schooling has left Ben with a brood of “philosopher kings” – or at least little kids who could easily place out of Philosophy 101. The film follows Ben (Viggo Mortensen) and his six children whom he and his wife have raised in the wilderness, teaching them to train like marines and study like scholars. While Ben’s beliefs tend to be rigid and unyielding, the film takes a more nuanced look at his life, at its joys and its consequences.Īt times Captain Fantastic (2016) can feel like a liberal arts crash course. This patriarch, Ben (Viggo Mortensen), is ultra left-leaning and believes unflinchingly in honesty, scholarship, and self-sufficiency in nature. Stunningly photographed by Stéphane Fontaine, “Captain Fantastic’’ belongs to the fully committed Mortensen and the wonderful, pitch-perfect young actors who play his offspring confronted by a new world: in descending order of age, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks and Charlie Shotwell.Quick Answer : Captain Fantastic (2016) follows a man who has chosen to raise his entire family in the wilderness, in part because of his complex belief system. “Captain Fantastic” isn’t only one of the year’s best movies, but one of the best cast and best acted, right down to the smaller roles - such as Ann Dowd as Jack’s sympathetic wife, and Kathryn Hahn and Steve Zahn in a single scene as the kids’ aunt and uncle, who are stunned to encounter youngsters who, unlike their own, aren’t glued to electronic devices. Ben, it’s suggested, isn’t necessarily doing his children a favor by isolating them and encouraging extreme behavior. Without giving too much away, let’s just say things don’t necessarily go according to plan. Piling into an old school bus crammed with books, this counterculture family heads out to disrupt the planned funeral in New Mexico, stopping along the way to group shoplift from a grocery store - Ben’s unique form of grief therapy for the kids. That funeral, Ben believes, goes against everything she stood for. Jack, the kids’ grandpa, is planning a conventional funeral for his daughter - Ben’s wife, Leslie, who committed suicide after a lengthy illness. Then, one day, they all get an opportunity to stick it to the man - in this case, Ben’s affluent father-in-law, Jack (Frank Langella). Played by a bearded Viggo Mortensen in the performance of his career in Matt Ross’ terrific “Captain Fantastic,’’ this off-the-grid dad gives the kids hunting knives as presents for the family’s version of Christmas, activist Noam Chomsky’s birthday. Rated R (profanity, brief graphic nudity).īen is a survivalist who home-schools his six children in a yurt in a pristine Pacific Northwest forest, far from the corrupting influences of contemporary society.
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