Tag: mattross

A-Level exam answer: How useful is an ideological critical approach in examining the impact of Captain Fantastic and La La Land on the spectator?

Damien Chazelle’s La La Land and Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic might appear to originate from very different political perspectives, however both emerged from the contentious period of the 2015-16 US presidential campaign. An analysis of left and right wing thought in America is useful for spectators to interpret how apparently opposing ideas can influence filmmakers, as is a consideration of the country’s unique founding ideologies … Continue reading A-Level exam answer: How useful is an ideological critical approach in examining the impact of Captain Fantastic and La La Land on the spectator?

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Some observations on hair in Captain Fantastic

The costume design in Matt Ross’s directorial debut is one of the most visually interesting elements of the film, from Ben’s red ‘clown suit’ through to Zaja’s gas mask and road kill hat. (It’s worth reading the New York Times’ interview with costume designer Courtney Hoffman here: Homespun Hippie or Backwoods Gucci?) From the outset, the Cash family’s abundant hair is a further visual indicator … Continue reading Some observations on hair in Captain Fantastic

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The Absent Mother: Female Agency and Identity in ‘Captain Fantastic’

In ‘Captain Fantastic’ (2016), director Matt Ross constructs a self-consciously egalitarian haven ‘out of Plato’s republic’. The film’s opening sequence presents us with girls who skin animals and build shrines to Pol Pot; men who nurture both plants and small children. In this forest commune, it seems, inequalities of age and gender are swept aside – or at least kept safely at bay in the … Continue reading The Absent Mother: Female Agency and Identity in ‘Captain Fantastic’

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