Captain Fantastic

In the beginning, it seemed like a movie about a cult, which made me so annoyed that I almost quit watching. Then it occurred to me that the film might be about the Kelly Family and I hung in there out of curiosity. Surprisingly, after a while, the whole family went to a funeral on a bus accompanied by the sound of Scotland the Brave, so I figured it probably wasn't about the American-Irish band. I was amazed how intrigued and entertained I was by a story about a clash of two life philosophies. I just didn’t take away any moral lessons. But that's just me, I’m a cynic. A side effect of the film is that I’ll be suspiciously looking around when walking down the street to see if there isn’t a radical socialist behind me who’s out to get me. (11/16/2016)

A unique example of a film that impresses me and pisses me off in a single minute, but it's hard to resist the fact that acting and directing sometimes dragged me to the side of this Platonic idealism mixed with peppery ideological goulash. Manipulative yes, clueless at the end, but at the level of the intimate story of a tyrannical father and emancipating children, but the film is not far from the much purer and simpler magic of Fierce Creatures. Mortensen? This guy is not in the top league. He established his own a long time ago. He carries the film to a large extent despite all the considerable problems. An inspiring mix of resistance and sympathy. [75%] (07/23/2016)

Agitprop? Nope. Perhaps at first glance, it’s a clueless-looking road movie in the end, but without unnecessary pathos it both praises and denounces the strength of family togetherness, which can reconcile the pitfalls of socialism and the exploitation of capitalism. This will still mature intellectually. 4 ½. (10/10/2016)

Back in my day, The Addams Family used to be a comedy. Cynicism aside, though, because this is such a perverse midcult that a few of its pernicious aspects need to be listed. Primary among them is the appalling hypocrisy, in the name of which the film masquerades as an anti-mainstream alternative, but uses virtually every means to appeal to the widest audience, including the last dumbass in the back of the theater, for whom most Sundance films are otherwise a junkie bore about nothing. Indeed, the film carefully monitors the length of each scene lest it accidentally become boring, repeatedly demonstrates the glorified otherness of the Cash family through food, permanently rips the over-smart kids to shreds as evidence of superiority, and, most importantly, doesn't allow the protagonist to see his missteps from anyone but himself. This questionable aspect, however, is never capitalized upon critically, but only melodramatically. To see him as a dangerous, idealistic fool who, despite everything, deserves our appreciation through his diligence and conviction, is impossible; it thus arouses a provocative ambivalence, because for over half of the running time he fulfills the role of messiah, and the film gives him credit for being right by putting only obstacles in his way that he can use to demonstrate his truth. So much that, as a result of the isolation, the traumatic experience of his eighteen-year-old son's first love is rendered as a humorous cutesy scene, one of the many colors of their unbridled ride through America. The seemingly interesting concept of a post-hippie commune in response to consumer society is thus watered down into a mishmash of topics to be discussed by moms over a shelf of fair trade food with a baby strapped to their chest and three credit cards in an embroidered bag with Peruvian motifs. (11/01/2016)

Captain Fantastic stands for values ​​that almost directly contradict my own worldview. It might seem that a movie full of extreme left-wing pathos aimed at the evil capitalism would warrant a below-average rating from me. But, in fact, I enjoyed those two hours a lot. At first glance, this may seem like a prayer for the destruction of the current rotten system and the return of power to the people through class struggle. On closer inspection, it is actually a feel-good movie that is not afraid to show the bad aspects of both systems. Logically, it's more about ecological propaganda than the inability to socially interact in a better way. I really enjoyed the great performance of Viggo Mortensen who simply radiates charisma, and when I look back at how few movies he has been in over the last 10 years, I really think he deserves an Oscar for this one. (02/08/2017)