Just How Would Captain Fantastic Feel About His Own Film?

Captain Fantastic Movie CLIP - So They Know We"re Coming (2016) - Viggo Mortensen Movie HD
Matt RossViggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn, George MacKayUS theatrical: 8 Jul 2016

Captain Fantastic refers to its titular character, Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen), a devout woodsman and Chomskyite who stewards a forest commune of his six children, ages seven through 18, in the temperate and bountiful Pacific Northwest. Ben is a fine captain who has vigorously earned the allegiance of his tribe, each of who dutifully participate in a daily regimen of bluff climbing, running, bow hunting (no guns), and precise analytical readings and presentations of heavy works, a sample of which includes MiddleMarch, Guns, Germs, and Steel, and particle physics. Indeed, an average day at Bens communeat least in his mindwould make Iron Man competitions look like intermediate intramural fluff and even the most demanding University programs as exploitative rackets with an emphasis on regurgitation for an ultimately unquestioned existence.

While Bens militant adherence to the communes perpetuation is intriguing, Captain Fantastic the film has an at times frustratingly milder agenda, which subsumes Ben and guides him toward formulaic solutions which temper the full realization of any kind righteous philosophical bent.

When given the opportunity, Viggo Mortensen convincingly meshes roles as concerned father and wilderness commando into a richly layered, organically driven performance. There are a trove of human interest pieces on Mortensen as an earthy, hyper-intelligent polyglot whose uncompromising conviction to push the envelope is tempered by a gentle reserve. When Captain Fantastic simply lets Viggo be Viggo, the film often thrives.

At the films onset, Bodevan Cash (George MacKay) completes a deer hunting mission which doubles as a tribal rite of passageafter killing the deer with a knife, Bodevan eats a chunk of the deers heart to complete his entry into manhood. Five kids look on. Had their father been played by a lesser actor, concern or outrage may be a lasting affect which would stymie the films intellectual aspirations. However, Ben guides the ceremony with tender, almost resigned deliberation, signifying at once a captains deeply felt pride for his soldiers acceptance of a profound rite, but also a parents lamentation of the tasks potentially traumatic effects. Mortensen, his worldly and humanistic touch reflecting so many emotions at once, is an ideal surrogate for the audience to relax their outrage and reflect on Bens motivations more holistically.

The first act of Captain Fantastic operates at this high level, combining poignant dialogue, acute visual attention to commune lifes daily rigors, and expressive physical performance, to establish a lived-in feel. This segment is a terrific film within the film, and one which may leave some longing for its continuance. But if thats the case, then perhaps your film of choice is closer to Embrace of the Serpent (2016), where a full-blown chaotic relationship to the wilderness is explored, or JauJa (2015), starring Mortensen, in which there is no formulaic interference with his characters fate. In Captain Fantastic, however, the final two acts vigorously seek express formulaic reasons for Bens Thoreau-meets-Chomsky lifestyle, which gravitates Bens choice more toward an experiment.

The formulas begin to take hold when Bens departed wife and mother of six, Leslie Cash, commits suicide. A road trip to Leslies funeral commences and, just as soon as the engine revs up, the film transforms into a plot-orientated machine. One stark story device centers on whether the Cash family will honor Leslies demand, incorporated in a will, to be cremated will succeed over her ultra-rich and hippie-hating father Jacks (Frank Langella) insistence on having a Catholic funeral. The plot thickens even more excessively when Jack responds to Bens explanation of his daughters will with threats of a custody petitiona point which not only insults both Ben and Jacks intelligence, but also overwhelms the films prior nuanced character study into a sublimely fascinating family.

The same can be said for an interlude at Bens sisters home (Kathryn Hahn), which is more or less a side-by-side diagram of suburbanite conformity versus nonconformist life in the wild, with copious amounts of judgmental poo flung at the former. Theres no need for this exposition, particularly when later in the film, the split is summed up by far more elegantly when we see Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton) playing a first-person hunter game at Jackss stately home, the electronic light bathed over his face while Ben watches in a shadowy corner.

Of course, non-conformist judgments arent objectionable, as hippies have taken more than their fair share of mockery from the establishment, so why not a few films which turn matters the other way? Fair enough, but Captain Fantastic never follows through with its judgments and their consequences. There is, for example, a side-plot as to whether Bodevan will choose to attend Harvard and break away from the relatively innocuous fits of anti-social behavior, both which are formulaic if not somewhat Easy Street affairs. Ben has his great parental epiphany on none other than Jacks wide, sun kissed lawn.

At the beginning of the Captain Fantastic, concerns were on whether Bens kids would weather a bluff climb in a downpour. Fireside discussions flowed about Trotsky and great literature. Now this? What happened?

Depending on the audience, the answers will vary. One could argue Captain Fantastic is a sophomoric script altered by mainstream considerations. It can also be convincingly argued that within the film itself, contemporary American life was knocking at the door, and Bens parental instincts demanded compromise.

But theres a scene midway through Captain Fantastic which underpins the films prevailing intentions. Ben, who just led his kids on a free the food mission at a Supermarket, buys a store cake likely full of artificial ingredients which he has outlawed from his commune for years. The cake is somewhat ironically in honor of Noam Chomsky day, and Ben stuffs his face with a mouthful of gooey deliciousness. The scene is a microcosm of Captain Fantastic, which has its Captain, and eats him, too.

Captain Fantastic

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Argun Ulgen is a film and culture writer residing in New York, NY. Find him on Twitter @BrooklynCycles

Source: http://www.popmatters.com/review/captain-fantastic-how-would-captain-fantastic-feel-about-his-own-film/

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In "Captain Fantastic," a Swiss Family Robinson for today

Captain Fantastic Movie CLIP - So They Know We"re Coming (2016) - Viggo Mortensen Movie HD

"It feels like one of those movies that have connected with something related to U.S. society right now," Mortensen said while smoking a cigarette on a rooftop patio after the film played at the Cannes Film Festival in May. "People get bewildered and think: "I can"t do that. I"m not going to skin a f---ing deer." But there are other things you can do."

The film is the second directing feature for Matt Ross, a veteran actor known to many as Gavin Belson on HBO"s "Silicon Valley." In "Captain Fantastic," the idyll of the family"s off-the-grid existence is challenged when their mother dies. A bus trip to her New Mexico parents (long critics of their lifestyle choices) confronts the kids with consumerist American life and teases out questions about their highly educated but socially removed upbringing. Should 8-year-olds really be climbing rock faces?

Ross acknowledges there are some autobiographical aspects to the tale. His mother, he says, was "a seeker" and he grew up partly in alternative living communities. ("They were hippie communes but they weren"t really hippie communes because it was the "80s," he jokes.) He has lived in a teepee in the summer and does, like his fictional family, celebrate Noam Chomsky Day. ("He"s my hero," he says.)

But the film, which opens locally on Friday, July 22, mostly came out of Ross" own parenting. He and his wife, who live in Berkeley, Calif., have a 13-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.

"I had a lot of questions about being a father and a parent, and I wanted to contextualize it or dramatize it," says Ross. "And I was sort of butting up against our culture and who we are as a country."

For the shoot in Washington, Ross had his cast come out two weeks early to help build the family"s home.

"There were many things on some scale I had to learn for this," says Mortensen. "I"m not that kind of parent. I don"t have his way of reasoning. But I do connect to certain things and approve of other things. I was very happy to be in the woods."

It"s the kind of preparation that Mortensen relishes. For "The Lord of the Rings," he slept outside with his sword. For David Cronenberg"s "Eastern Promises" (Mortensen"s lone Oscar nomination), he briefly lived in Russia and suggested his character"s extensive Russian mafia tattoos. On "Captain Fantastic," he built a garden and learned to play the bagpipes.

"I like to bring objects, ideas. And I like to work with directors who aren"t threatened by that. It"s just my process and it helps me," says Mortensen, who also writes poetry, composes classical music and founded his own publishing company. "I just want to make the most of each moment we"re filming, in terms of preparing it and doing it, but also as a human being. This is part of my life. It"s not just a fiction."

While "Captain Fantastic" is proudly liberal, its conclusion rests on compromise with the father"s conservative in-laws. But Ross and Mortensen, who waved Bernie Sanders flags in Cannes, are trouble by the country"s direction. "That it"s a country of immigrants has magically disappeared in some people"s minds," Mortensen, who grew up in Argentina, upstate New York and Denmark, says, shaking his head.

Ultimately, Ross hopes "Captain Fantastic" preaches only tolerance, compassion and education.

"It"s asking you to be present and not just on autopilot," says Ross. "I hope it has an impact. I hope it does."

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/home/4095848-155/in-captain-fantastic-a-swiss-family

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Captain Fantastic" is one of the year"s best

Viggo Mortensen on going off the grid with "Captain Fantastic"
In this era of so many movies being based on comic books, it would be easy to think "Captain Fantastic" falls into that genre. Actually, the film couldn"t be any more different from one of those big-budget blockbusters.There are no capes, super powers or flying sequences. It does feature a super performance by Viggo Mortensen and a championship script by Matt Ross. In the end, the film is able to bend steel opinion and leap close-minded thinking."Captain Fantastic" relies more on brain than brawn to tell the story of a family living way off the grid. Under the guidance of Ross, the story offers alternative opinions, smart arguments and real conversations about the health and development of children when they don"t have to deal with the distractions of the world.Ben (Mortensen) is a recently widowed father of six children. Years ago, Ben and his wife moved the family to a cabin in the woods where they have generally lived off the land.This is not just an escape from the frivolities of life, but a way to better focus their children on what"s important. Without cell phones, video games or dates, the children read great literature, debate political issues and speak multiple languages.When the decision is made to leave the sanctity of forest life to travel across the country for their mother"s funeral, it becomes clear that some life lessons don"t come from books. This becomes painfully apparent when the youngsters try to deal with awkward moments from a first kiss to peer pressure.This is where Ross shines both as a director and writer. It would have been easy for "Captain Fantastic" to advocate the kind of lifestyle where children are encouraged to absorb as much knowledge as possible. It"s also a way of life that advocates healthy living.During a stop at a bank, one of the children asks if they are in a hospital because he thinks everyone looks so sick because they"re obese. Stating the observation out loud is part of the social skills the children have not mastered.Ross provides balance. He tells the story by showing the positives that come from being isolated and the negatives of not being able to deal with real world situations. The verbal battles between Ben and his father-in-law (Frank Langella) are written to give both sides time to make their points.It"s the actions of the family that tell the deepest and most endearing stories.Oldest son Bo (George McKay) is so flustered when he gets a kiss from a stranger that he immediately offers a marriage proposal. It"s painfully sweet. His look at life is so innocent, but it"s also refreshing to show he"s a teen who is possessed by sexual urges.The pure strength comes from Mortensen. He plays a man who is passionate about his convictions but struggles with his decisions after the passing of his wife. The question isn"t whether he"s a good man or not. It"s whether good intentions always result in the best outcome."Captain Fantastic" is everything that comic book-inspired movies aren"t. Instead of trying to visually overpower the viewer with crashes, explosions and huge fight scenes, "Captain Fantastic" is a deep examination of parenting, family, excess, isolationism, hope and the challenge of making the right decisions.Most importantly, this is a movie that asks the viewer to think. Superhero movies have their own strengths, but challenging viewers to join in a debate about life is not one of them.

Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20160729/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/160729117

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