CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: VIGGO MORTENSEN in un'eccentrica esplorazione delle scelte che i genitori compiono per i figli
Dall'XI. Festa del Cinema di Roma (13-23 ottobre 2016) - Dal 69. Festival del Cinema di Cannes - Dal Sundance Film Festival 2016 - Dal 7 Dicembre - RECENSIONE ITALIANA e PREVIEW in ENGLISH by PETER DEBRUGE, (www.variety.com)
Nel cuore delle foreste del Nord America, lontano dalla società , un padre fuori dal comune (Viggo Mortensen) dedica la propria vita a trasformare i suoi sei figli in adulti straordinari. Ma una tragedia si abbatte sulla sua famiglia, costringendolo a lasciare quel paradiso, faticosamente costruito, per iniziare, insieme con i suoi ragazzi, un viaggio nel mondo esterno che metterà in dubbio la sua idea di cosa significa essere un genitore, e tutto ciò che ha insegnato ai suoi figli.
Così, nelle foreste del Pacifico Nordoccidentale, Ben Cash, il padre fuori dal comune di Captain Fantastic, sta crescendo la sua famiglia il più lontano possibile dall’influenza della moderna cultura consumista. Riempie i giorni dei suoi sei figli con un’educazione rigorosa, imponendo loro un allenamento fisico e un’istruzione impegnativi, ma necessari per sopravvivere nelle terre selvagge. Ben sta crescendo una tribù di “Re filosofi†dotati della resistenza cardiovascolare e muscolare dei migliori atleti, impartendo loro anche un’approfondita preparazione sui testi classici, che va ben oltre la loro età .
Le scelte di Ben sono ben più estreme rispetto a quelle che potrebbe fare qualsiasi altro genitore. Per dieci anni, Ben e la sua famiglia hanno vissuto al di fuori di tutto, in un luogo remoto, dove cacciano e coltivano il loro cibo. Lui e sua moglie Leslie hanno scelto di crescere i loro figli in maniera totalmente diversa da quella che è la normalità , e la loro scelta genera dei dilemmi: il fine giustifica il mezzo?
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
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.
una 'controcultura' in rotta di collisione con gli usi e costumi dell'America consumista e capitalista. Quella che, attraverso le epoche, facendo finta di cambiare musica ha poi di fatto mantenuto più o meno in vita la stessa 'solfa'. Ben ed Allie condividono la stessa sospettosa e sarcastica distanza con la fede cristiano cattolica, la stessa animosa convinzione che tutto possa e debba essere costruito con le proprie mani e con le proprie forze, che sia tanto necessario da non poter permettere ad alcun membro della famiglia il lusso di lamentarsi. Ma qualcuno che cova risentimento, rancore e odio c'è sempre. Due diversi personaggi (tanto logorroico Allie quanto di poche parole Ben) sottomessi ognuno alla propria filosofia di indipendenza dalle convenzioni del mondo, entrambi fuori dal mondo per scelta. Una scelta personale con la presunzione di renderla collettiva. Come Allie anche Ben è accecato dalle teorie - "Potere al popolo, abbasso
La forza di questo film però - diretto da Matt Ross (28 Hotel Rooms) - eccentrico tanto quanto il suo personaggio, sta tutta nel seguire le varie
piste prima che Ben (Mortensen) arrivi al giro di boa. Piste lastricate anche di un generoso umorismo per quanto mosso da una tragedia. Una famiglia 'azzoppata' che avanza tra una missione e l'altra per tirare avanti, non senza un certo solidale entusiasmo, stemperando il dolore della perdita: laddove nasce ad esempio la 'missione cibo libero'. Una tra le tante. E che dire dell'educazione sessuale? Le domande sono il pezzo forte dei più piccoli si sa, ma padre Ben non conosce imbarazzo e risponde sempre nel modo più schietto e sincero. La teoria va forte, ma sulla pratica la questione si fa carente e, decisamente imbarazzante: per avere un'idea di quanto si trovino 'fuori dal mondo' basta richiamarsi alla sequenza con l'assurda e comica dichiarazione mossa dal figlio più grande ad una ragazzina coetanea conosciuta da poco. E la schiettezza di Ben rischia di essere brutale e inopportuna quando raggiunge i
comuni mortali. I pochi contatti con alcuni parenti che le circostanze impongono a Ben e ai figli, riescono a generare vere e proprie scintille in sequenze spesso tragicomiche. Occasioni d'oro per porre sul ring della competizione due sistemi opposti di concepire l'educazione da genitore a figlio. Tacere, smussare il linguaggio o dire senza peli sulla lingua la netta e cruda verità ? Quale il posto giusto? E quando il momento giusto? Esiste quella saggia via di mezzo che il Ben di Mortensen scoprirà strada facendo, anche grazie ai propri figli.
Secondo commento critico (a cura di PETER DEBRUGE, www.variety.com)
VIGGO MORTENSEN GETS THE ROLE HE MAY WELL HAVE BEEN BORN TO PLAY, NOT AS A SUPERHERO, BUT AS A SUPER-DAD DETERMINED TO RAISE HIS KIDS ON HIS OWN TERMS.
If there weren’t already a film called “World’s Greatest Dad,†that over-commodified Father’s Day slogan would have made a fine title for Matt Ross’ “Captain Fantastic,†which stars Viggo Mortensen as one of the screen’s all-time most progressive patriarchs — the surviving half of a counter-culture couple who decided to shrug off capitalism (they ignore Christmas, but celebrate “Noam Chomsky Dayâ€), quit the big city and raise their family off the grid. But when Mom commits suicide, that puts a major twist in the fairy tale, which is precisely where Ross’ emotionally gripping family drama begins, evenhandedly weighing the pros and cons of its wildly unconventional parenting strategy, as the grieving father and his six kids cope with the idea of
integrating back into polite society.
Boasting half a dozen impressive youth performances alongside a leading role that takes full advantage of Mortensen’s own sensitive, back-to-nature spirit, “Captain Fantastic†easily ranks among the most polished and relatable of this year’s Sundance offerings, even if the self-sufficient lifestyle it depicts will feel totally alien to most of its mainstream audience. Though it’s been just four years since Ross’ debut, “28 Hotel Rooms,†premiered at Sundance, his writing and directing skills have progressed so much in that time, this sophomore effort could pass for a fourth or fifth feature, boasting studio-caliber production values while preserving the personal ambition of an independently made passion project.
Opening somewhere so far removed from civilization that all we see are trees, the film plunges into the primordial Washington forest where Ben (Mortensen, in full mountain-man beard) has organized a rite-of-passage hunting ceremony for his eldest son, Bodevan (23-year-old British
actor George MacKay, a slightly alien but appropriately youthful-looking choice). There’s an almost cult-like quality to this ritual, which stands to reason: What are families, after all, beyond autonomous little sects forced to operate within a broader social context? Only in Ben’s case, he’s effectively cut the ties that connect the family to the rest of the world — so much so that it’s not until days later, when reunited with the nearest telephone line, that he learns what’s happened to his wife, Leslie.
“Your mother is dead,†Ben matter-of-factly announces, speaking to his children with a directness American parents seldom display toward minors. This is Ben’s way: He treats his kids as young adults, respecting their intelligence at every turn — as demonstrated in a visit to their more conventionally minded aunt and uncle (Kathryn Hahn and Steve Zahn, respectively), whose relatively average sons are all but glued to their
iPhones. Though Ben’s children know nothing of Lady Gaga or “Star Trek,†as a result of rigorous home-schooling, they are conversant in everything from the Constitution to Karl Marx — not to mention wilderness survival, self defense, extreme rock climbing and human reproduction.
The expression on youngest son Nai’s face is priceless in a scene in which the kids all receive presents. His siblings each get hunting knives, while the 6-year-old receives a copy of “The Joy of Sex.†It’s a telling moment, topped only by an impromptu quiz for the daughter who’s decided to skip ahead in her reading and try “Lolita†— which she analyzes with the insight of a college student, or a professional critic.
On one hand, Ben has clearly raised his children to be respectful, bright young adults, but he’s also guilty of sheltering them in his own way, withholding how to interact with others when and
if they ever decide to leave the bohemian forest life. It’s as if he hasn’t factored actual adulthood into his parenting plan, giving them each names as unique as their respective intellects, with the socially awkward result that they all sound like characters from “The Lord of the Ringsâ€: In addition to Bodevan and Nai (Charlie Shotwell), there’s rebellious son Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton), towhead Zaja (Shree Crooks) and beautiful teen daughters Kielyr (Samantha Isler) and Vespyr (Annalise Basso) — each given moments in which their individual personalities can shine and further imbued with distinct qualities by the actors who play them.
With Leslie’s passing, the moment for the family to confront the real world comes sooner than Ben could have imagined, causing all sorts of uncomfortable moments. The challenge to assimilate is most pronounced for Bodevan, who betrays his father by discreetly applying to a handful of colleges (at his mother’s
encouragement). When the young man meets a pretty blonde teen at an overnight campsite, he recognizes the rising emotions from books, but badly embarrasses himself by proposing marriage immediately following their first kiss.
“Captain Fantastic†is full of such well-chosen situations, illustrating both the texture of their life before (further realized by a wardrobe of secondhand and hippie clothes, the work of Quentin Tarantino’s costume designer Courtney Hoffman) and the shock of mixing with “normal†folks (as in a hilarious scene in which the body-shameless Mortensen steps off the family bus in the buff). It’s clear that Ross has not only done his research, but put his imagination to work, more often than not dramatizing — as opposed to directly articulating — the underlying themes.
The glaring exception to that principle arrives in the form of Leslie’s father, Jack (sternly played by Frank Langella), whose domineering manner overshadows his relatively understanding wife
(Ann Dowd). Whether parent or child, practically anyone can relate to the tensions represented in “Captain Fantasticâ€: It can be hard to resist the urge to decide how someone else raises their kids — which is precisely Jack’s problem, though in many respects, he does have a point, even if the character himself feels like something of a cardboard villain.
In addition to wanting the best for his grandkids, Jack is determined to give his daughter a proper funeral. In doing so, he’s not only ignoring Leslie’s last wishes, but exerting one last bout of control over her free-spirited nature, effectively forcing Ben to drive his bus all the way to New Mexico for the confrontation he’d been hoping to avoid. The inspired choice of casting Mortensen — a natural Papa Bear, who taps into both his physical strength and spiritual gentleness — shows through best when interacting with the kids,
though the actor also shines when forced to defend his choices to others.
Trusting the integrity of the situation (far better dramatized than in Cedric Kahn’s similarly themed “Wild Lifeâ€), Ross doesn’t run from the resulting sentimentality the way so many other directors do; nor does he undercut it with irony or sarcasm as has become the regrettable tendency in independent cinema. Instead, he respects the emotions of both his characters and audience throughout, and though that means risking derision from cynics, “Captain Fantastic†should connect in a major way with those looking to be swept up and moved by such a fundamental human experience. The fact that it looks and sounds so great in the process — Ross scored a major coup in hiring Jacques Audiard’s d.p. Stephane Fontaine (“A Prophet,†“Rust & Boneâ€) — makes for an experience that feels as luminous and enriching as practically every widescreen frame.
Bibliografia:
Nota: Si ringraziano Good Film e Laura (QuattroZeroQuattro)