Ben Cash (Viggo) and his wife decided on a radical way to bring up their children. They bought a camper van and set up a self-contained home in a forest in America. The children are being brought up in the woods, away from normal society, learning to survive by the land. They are educated by their father who has them reading literature, philosophy, and history from a young age, and quizzes them on their knowledge and opinions; it is very important to him that they have their own opinions.
That is, until their mother kills herself.
They have to leave home and drive a long way across America, integrating with modern society, to go to their mother's funeral.
It has hilarious consequences, interesting consequences, and some quite gruelling consequences.
The children do not fit in with modern society; they think and behave differently to other children, and were educated differently. As a result, there are some hilarious encounters with the outside world. It also brings up some interesting points about child-rearing, and education. At first, we're enchanted with the radical path Ben and his wife chose, but it soon becomes clear that it's not as perfect as it seems.
The children soon realise that they will never understand of fit in with the rest of society - they can see why they have been raised differently, but their communication difficulties make life very hard on them sometimes. Their father is very strict about the way they are to be raised; he has a regime for them that doesn't allow them much room outside of his idealism. What if they want to be a part of the society he so despises?
The entire film brings up questions like this - it threw up everything I ever thought I knew about child-rearing and education, yet highlights the fact that there doesn't seem to be a 'perfect' way of doing it.
The film is utterly brilliant and brilliantly acted - until the end.
The end didn't make sense to me.
Throughout the film, the oldest child wishes to go to University which his father condemns. When his father finally gives in and allows him to do as he pleases, the eldest son spontaneously decides to go travelling instead...what? That just didn't fit with the film's message at all, or with the character. It was random and unexplained.
The very ending doesn't ring true with the way they were brought up. The last scene is of the children and father singing around a campfire - that's all very well - the details are what throws it off.
Firstly, the immaterial children are now wearing very indie fashionable clothes, and they're wearing earrings - I thought they made their own clothes?
The first daughter to start off the singing has a very nazal, modern sounding voice - a voice that would never have come to her naturally, having been brought up in the woods. Being a folk singer myself, I try to use my natural voice - the voice used by the daughter here has a very effected sound (a voice she would have heard used in modern pop music) - which, again, doesn't fit with her character or her upbringing.
They're only small details but they shatter the illusion of being 'outsiders'.
Overall: it's definitely worth a watch, and Viggo Mortensen is fabulous (as always) - it's a film that will make you think and rethink.
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