Directed by:
Matt RossScreenplay:
Matt RossCinematography:
Stéphane FontaineComposer:
Alex SomersCast:
Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Samantha Isler, Charlie Shotwell, Frank Langella, Ann Dowd, Steve Zahn (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father (Viggo Mortensen) devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent. (Entertainment One)
Videos (12)
Reviews (13)
An indie film in a highly addictive presentation. It has beautiful performances (perhaps Aragorn deserves a major award), with a catchy narration and topped off with a big idea that the filmmakers manage to sell almost perfectly. I'm not saying that I wouldn't also occasionally love go somewhere in the middle of uninhabited forests, away from religious fanaticism, gluttony, social chaos and greed, and then read how to behave on a first amorous encounter (and the resulting knowledge would undoubtedly be as useless to me as my current ignorance), and I would play the uplifting country version of “Sweet Child O'Mine”... Not as free-thinking as its heroes, but certainly a playful and inspiring work that deserves universal attention and respect. 85%
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51st KVIFF - completely off the mark. In a rational person, the “funny” sequences will probably arouse concern and fear. That psychopath commanding a radical, potentially terrorist cell in the forest should end up behind bars, instead of back in the family circle in the style of “we all love each other”. When it looks like the voice of reason will prevail (Frank Langella’s), it ends up being flushed down the toilet. I’m allergic to this alternative stuff, so I was hostile against this film from the beginning. The rating might be too harsh, but it comes from the heart. If you feel otherwise, you’ll be satisfied.
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I ignored this one for a long time, but after watching it I'm almost tempted to go up to 5 stars. I don't think anyone will forget this family that has lived in the woods for 10 years. The parenting style was very unconventional and I think it could have easily been functional. Viggo Mortensen was absolutely amazing and his intellectual dialogues took my breath away at times, every dialogue is a powerful and thought-provoking thing. The kids were Oscar-worthy and the knowledge that 8 year old girl has of politics and law made my chin drop. Very good in places and perversely funny. 85%.
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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%]
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Thematically similar to Wild and Into The Wild, i.e. an individual with different views, attitudes and philosophy of life, going against the established practices and standards of modern society. It's a bit of an agitprop for organic life, a bit of a tribute to the hippies and a bit of a backwoods romp. Most of all, though, it's a surprisingly functional family drama about unconventional family practices and a different approach to life that's very raw in some scenes while brilliantly contrasting the typically capitalist mannerisms of the contemporary bourgeoisie, a superbly typecast American middle class, and a family of pragmatic, penniless scrappers living in the woods who are seemingly depraved in every way, but not really. The greatest virtue is that the director manages to put all these typologically selected life practices into one plane and extracts the positives and negatives from both in equal measure. So, in the end, the viewer is served with a plethora of consistent, very interesting opinions and scenes that are entertaining in their inner charge, thought-provoking message, and are healthily spiced with great acting performances. Thankfully it clearly doesn't side with nature, whereas the older brothers have it in their name and it's clear what it looks like afterwards. Mortensen and co are nuts, but they have brains, they know why they're doing it and you root for them.
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