Captain Fantastic: Opening scene analysis

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 CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

We are initially presented with long shots of the natural world for a long duration, which was probably done on purpose by Ross (the director) to allow the audience to appreciate the beauty of the forest and nature as a whole. There are diegetic sounds and no artificial lighting, the colours are beautifully saturated and vibrant which emphasises the beauty of nature and the wilderness.  Moreover, this could also highlight how the family is socially disconnected and isolated from society.

We are initially aligned with the deer, we perceive motivated close-ups of the deer's eyes watching through the foliage. hear people creeping around, resulting in the deer feeling on edge. We sense the threat the deer is facing. It holds horror-Esque qualities, the hunter and the haunted in close proximity, we can see the victim clearly but we don't know what or who the threat is.

The mud-covered bodies make the humans look monstrous, threatening and inhumane, making it harder for the audience to identify them. The attack on the deer is very fast-paced and chaotic. The dark red of the blood, the ritual of eating the heart is extremely brutal, tribal and animalistic. This accentuates the idea that they're distanced from the modern, western, civilised world that the viewer will perceive as normal. 

The audience is immediately presented with a barrier, as we do not have an immediate alignment with the characters who will become the protagonists. From this, the director now makes sure that the audience forms an allegiance with these characters and put us in their shoes. He achieves this by humanising them. They wash, get dressed and appear more civilised as a result of this, meeting the expectations of the audience. Moreover, we see them preparing food, reading and singing, and we begin to realise that they aren't as far removed from ourselves as we may have initially concocted. 

The opening scene of the film sets up key themes that will be revealed throughout the film, such as masculinity, family, parenthood and affinity. From the extreme close-ups of the father and the eldest son, it is clearly highlighted that they are key characters in the film and that we'll be following their journey throughout. 

The father wipes the deer's blood on his son's face after successfully killing it, and declares "Today the boy is dead and in his place, there is a man." This emphasises the father's strong patriarchal nature, which is clearly portrayed in the film. 







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