Ben and his large brood are living the hippie dream: they have totally withdrawn from the consumer ratrace, and are living on their own in the mountains of Western USA, sleeping in a teepee, hunting and gathering their own organic food. The children are homeschooled to a very high level, can chat in many languages, and are as fit as athletes. There is no TV, nor TV dinner here.
But there is trouble in paradise: it's driven the mother crazy. We never see her: she is away in a mental hospital. Ben explains that post-partum depression has led to bipolar disorder, owing to low serotonin levels. It's a mark of the children's education that they can all understand this.
The idyll comes to clash with American civilization when a family funeral forces the kids to encounter 'normal' America. They are fascinated and horrified, and the dream begins to give way....
This is a very interesting film which raises lots of questions. But it has flaws. Winters in the Montana mountains are long and harsh. What do they eat? We see them hunting, but not farming, so where do they get crops to preserve?
The eldest has been accepted by all the top US universities. They would be fighting with each other to give him scholarships. So Ben would have no need to seek help with tuition.
Ben's training regime reminds me of the Trapp Family at the beginning of'The Sound of Music'. But no Maria comes to teach these kids the 'Do-Re-Mi' song.
The photography is good, but the shots are held overlong, which seems to be a universal flaw in modern films. If viewers these days have short attention spans, why do editors give them such long takes?
But there is trouble in paradise: it's driven the mother crazy. We never see her: she is away in a mental hospital. Ben explains that post-partum depression has led to bipolar disorder, owing to low serotonin levels. It's a mark of the children's education that they can all understand this.
The idyll comes to clash with American civilization when a family funeral forces the kids to encounter 'normal' America. They are fascinated and horrified, and the dream begins to give way....
This is a very interesting film which raises lots of questions. But it has flaws. Winters in the Montana mountains are long and harsh. What do they eat? We see them hunting, but not farming, so where do they get crops to preserve?
The eldest has been accepted by all the top US universities. They would be fighting with each other to give him scholarships. So Ben would have no need to seek help with tuition.
Ben's training regime reminds me of the Trapp Family at the beginning of'The Sound of Music'. But no Maria comes to teach these kids the 'Do-Re-Mi' song.
The photography is good, but the shots are held overlong, which seems to be a universal flaw in modern films. If viewers these days have short attention spans, why do editors give them such long takes?