Coursework 5 - Review: Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderson is well known for having an extremely unique and unconventional approach to filmmaking. With a total of twelve films currently attached to his belt and a career spanning over a nineteen years, the Texan born director is quickly building up a reputation as one of the leading filmmakers in cinema today. Wes Anderson's latest live action, Moonrise Kingdom, sees the return of the same youthful drive, real emotion and bizarre oddities that present themselves in a not too dissimilar style from, The Royal Tenenbaums, (2001) or the more recently released animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s, Fantastic Mr.Fox. (2009).  

The quirky, romantic comedy Moonrise Kingdom received critical acclaim when it was released in June, 2012. It was then later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Moonrise Kingdom - HD Trailer

The story itself is a charming tale set in 1965 America, New England. The plot centres around twelve year old orphan Sam (Jared Gilman) who lives on a small island with Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton). The story unfolds as Sam – using his extensive khaki scout training – runs away from home to reunite with his estranged pen pal Suzy (Kara Hayward). As Sam and Suzy begin to bond in their adventure over their mutual status as oddball outsiders, back at their homes, the adults connected – Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis), social worker (Tilda Swinton) and Suzy’s inattentive parents, Walt (Bill Murray) and Laura (Frances McDormand), begin to piece together the connections between the missing pair and mount a search party to bring them back home. Yet, the quest for love has never been that clean cut, and after a brief and somewhat uncomfortable romantic exchange, the two young lovers are torn apart.

Fortunately for our fictional characters, because this is a Wes Anderson film, we’re privileged to a more optimistic portrayal of young love. In fact, Anderson’s unique filmmaking approach is the only American work that I can think of that currently reflects the Japanese concept ‘Mono No Aware’ which demonstrates a certain empathetic outlook toward life through its aesthetic design and content.

Moonrise Kingdom – like all of Anderson’s films – uses breathtaking imagery that evokes this feeling of awe and wonder that’s best depicted through the innocent adolescent love between oddballs, Sam and Suzy. Andersons gift as a filmmaker lies in his ability to infuse the boring mundane realities of life, with an ever-prevailing element of fantasy. This homemade aesthetic design beautifully parallels the original comically quirky script (co-written by his Darjeeling Limited Collaborator, Roman Coppola). At times, you almost feel like your seeing the world for the first time through the absorbent eyes of twelve-year-old Sam. Momentarily presenting us with this naïvely positive outlook on life.

The regular absurdity of the narrative articulated by the equally absurd characters in the film, wonderfully complement the vibrant palatte of colours, typically presented in Anderson’s work. Aside from the obviously stunning aesthetic design, the film also boasts an impressive soundtrack by Benjamin Britten, which again adds to the incongruous tone of the film.

Approaching the end of the film, right as a hurricane looms over the small island, the story unfortunately gets caught up in the storm. The focus moves away from the romance of our young lead protagonists, and onto the various back-stories from the surrounding adults. Not that I’d usually find criticism with the appearance of Bill Murray and Bruce Willis in the same film. Nevertheless, the finale seemed to build up to this overly animated, unrealistic climax, which would have been better suited to Fantastic Mr. Fox.

With the exception of the last sequence, Moonrise Kingdom is a fantastic film full of whimsy and enchantment. It takes you back on a nostalgic journey though your childhood, and continually pushes the boundaries that are often lost from our viewing habits. It quite easily can be considered amongst the best of Andersons work. It’s movies like Moonrise Kingdom that challenge the social conformities of todays mainstream cinema, almost placing Wes Anderson in a category of his own. At times, his films seem to even defy categorization. It’s therefore understandable why for many, his work could be considered – at the very least – bizarre. However, Moonrise Kingdom in its brilliance, is quite simply a breath of fresh air, in an industry which is predominantly only driven by its own political economy.

References:

Bordwell, D,. 1988, Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

IMDb. 2013. Moonrise Kingdom. [Online]. Available From: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748122/?ref_=sr_1  [Accessed 11 April 2013].