CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Ideologies and themes 2 : RITUALS

 Cinematography:

- When Ben wakes up, he hallucinates and sees his wife. His wife is shown through his POV extreme close up shots and his actions match what the audience see in his POV and out of his POV.

- Close ups of people crying and grieving.

- Close up of Ben over the casket with the flowers to show he brings light and happiness for Lesley.

- Hand held camera as the security grab and escort Ben out.

- Establishing shot as the family enters.

- Close-ups outside the church showing the children facial expressions.

Mise-en-scene:

- They enter the church in non traditional for funerals, colourful clothing as they believe in celebrating life and not the fact she is dead.

- Ben wears red which can be linked to superheroes and he hasn't fulfilled his superhero role. He has let Lesley and the children down.

- Flowers in the girls hair - bringing nature.

- The priest mentions Lesley's dogs before her husband and children.

- Ben mentions that his wife followed Buddhist practices but there ceremony is Christian and it continues like nothing happened after Ben is escorted out.

- 'Who are the police going to listen to you a hippy, or me?' - Jack tries to persuade Ben not to go and save her body as Jack hates Ben.

- Security aren't usually seen at funerals which shows he is seen as a threat.

- Jack and Abby haven't met some of the grandchildren before which shows that their family is unconventional.

- The police are an authority figure that Ben disagrees with.

- A lot of swearing which is unnatural at funerals as it can be disrespectful.

Sound:

- Ben diegetically hits the casket to make the audience feel shocked as it can be perceived as him being disrespectful.

- Calm piano music after the children argue with their dad about going to the wake.

- Silence is used to reiterate Ben's guilt and disappointment in failing the mission.

Ideology:

Binary Oppositions - Light vs Dark - Ben and his children vs everyone else in the funeral.

The children aren't grieving over their mother's death.

Feminism - Jack tells Abby to stop crying and focus on Lesley.

Patriarchal power struggle between Ben and Jack.

Male Gaze - See Lesley through Ben's perspective.

Liberalism - Ben brings the liberalism to the funeral for his wife.

Swap of roles - His children tell Ben to stop and rein it back in which adults usually tell their children to do.

Spectatorship:

- We align with the children, then Abby then the children again.

- We feel sorry for Ben when he leaves and his children tell him to stop.

Themes: Different opinions on what was right for Leslie, family.

Through Ben and his kids’ quest to rescue the corpse of their mother, Ross sparks an insightful and emotional conversation about our relationship with death – the ridiculousness of our traditions and rituals, and our inexplicable sanctification of rotting flesh and bone. What her parents try to give her is a eulogy by a priest who never knew her, this is the suburban default and through the use of camera angles and lighting we are encouraged to align with Ben's family. In the first funeral the lighting is dull, the clothing is dull and we notice a huge contrast when Ben's family enter (as mentioned above). We also question whether Ben's sister is critiquing the funeral she's at when she looks at the family with a face of contentment and she looks dissatisfied when they are kicked out. We also aren't really encouraged to pay attention to the voice of the priest, not only do the camera shots not focus on him, but his dialogue is inaccurate - he is talking falsely about Lesley and her lifestyle. This is not what their mother wanted. Ben's family steal the coffin and break free of the expectation that they should be miserable as their mother is laid to rest and, instead, they sing and dance – a more fitting tribute to a woman committed to social revolution, freedom, enlightenment and equality for all.