Amazing talent no-ego Viggo, as Ben the father, made plenty of them. But when the slap of reality was finally felt but good, Ben woke up to the realization that life on planet Earth, in America, moving forward at the clip it is, would have left his loving children - despite the knowledge and history he taught them - far behind.
This is a tale of multiple redemptions and awakenings for a father and his children. And not to be lost in it is also a stark reminder of the myriad egregious shortcomings and ignorances of typical America. Ie most kids do NOT know what exactly the Bill Of Rights is, let alone be able to quote a single phrase within it. How many could fill in the names of most states on a US map? Yet Ben's kids knew M Theory...
It's a presentation of great lack on both sides. Ben's kids, despite their survival prowess and exemplary knowledge, are hopelessly non-worldly in the world beyond the forest they know, and their cousins, typical American kids, know all the fashions and memes of the day but little actual knowledge, and would last not nearly a "fortnite" in Mother Nature on their own.
Reconciliation, redemption, resignation to the inevitable; all lessons learned in a world where true health of any kind - mental and emotional as well - is not possible without compromise. And failure in this abounds all around us, "in a thousand remarkable ways".
But if such is approached well, heck, one may even discover that most elusive grail of all - happiness. Ben, who did know the world he struggled to sequester his kids from - when it finally came knocking in brutal reality - found his true faith in them, releasing them from his woods and his ways, to the world.
This is a tale of multiple redemptions and awakenings for a father and his children. And not to be lost in it is also a stark reminder of the myriad egregious shortcomings and ignorances of typical America. Ie most kids do NOT know what exactly the Bill Of Rights is, let alone be able to quote a single phrase within it. How many could fill in the names of most states on a US map? Yet Ben's kids knew M Theory...
It's a presentation of great lack on both sides. Ben's kids, despite their survival prowess and exemplary knowledge, are hopelessly non-worldly in the world beyond the forest they know, and their cousins, typical American kids, know all the fashions and memes of the day but little actual knowledge, and would last not nearly a "fortnite" in Mother Nature on their own.
Reconciliation, redemption, resignation to the inevitable; all lessons learned in a world where true health of any kind - mental and emotional as well - is not possible without compromise. And failure in this abounds all around us, "in a thousand remarkable ways".
But if such is approached well, heck, one may even discover that most elusive grail of all - happiness. Ben, who did know the world he struggled to sequester his kids from - when it finally came knocking in brutal reality - found his true faith in them, releasing them from his woods and his ways, to the world.