Captain Fantastic Opening Scene Analysis

The first few shots of Captain Fantastic show the environment that the family live in as serene and calm. The first shot of any members of the family is of the eldest son, who is stalking a deer, and wearing hunting paint which appears intimidating, especially when watching over the deer. There is then a graphic sequence in which the son pounces, and kills the deer in a violent fashion. Due to this, our first impressions on the family are negative, as up to this point, we have only seen them be a destructive force on the environment which has already been established as peaceful. The lighting in this scene seems to be entirely natural, which shows the audience the natural beauty of this environment, while remaining relatively dark as they are in shade to match the tone of this scene. The naturalistic lighting in this scene is complemented by the abundance of the colour green which is heavily related to the concept of nature. Once the son has killed the deer, we see the family come out of the bushes and regroup, the father proceeds to cut the heart out of the deer, and then wipes the blood of the deer onto his eldest son's forehead, stating "Today the boy is dead, and in his place is a man." as the rest of the family gathers to watch, and the son takes a bite out of the deer's heart. We instantly perceive this as cult-like and eery. However, the film then cuts, and shows us the family as they wash away the hunting paint in the river, they begin to splash each other. This reminds the audience that this family, despite their differences in tradition and culture, are still just as human as anyone else. They then carry the deer and hang it up from a tree. From this we can insinuate that they plan on using the rest of the deer, which justifies the killing of it earlier in the scene, as many people outside of this lifestyle also eat meat. Throughout this scene, the lighting becomes brighter as they move out of the shade and into more open areas, removing the sense of eeriness that was felt at the beginning as we see the family more personally and intimately.

The first character that we see in the entire film is the eldest son as he stalks the deer. This scene is from his point of view, and the camera matches his eyeline as he watches the deer, which suggests that he is the main character of this story. After he has killed the deer and the family regroups for the father to make his speech to the eldest son, the father says "Today the boy is dead, and in his place is a man." which suggests to the audience that the film will be about the eldest son's growth, development and journey into adulthood. However, something we can also take from this scene is that the father is the first character in the film to have any dialogue, which would suggest that he, rather than the eldest son, is the main character. The line that he says can also suggest that the film is about him guiding his eldest son into adulthood, as well as his relationship with the rest of his kids as a now single dad.