Moonrise Kingdom

:

 IMDB

• release:2012  

• 
  

  Director: Wes Anderson

• Writer(s): Wes Anderson &
  Roman Coppola
• Cinematographer: Robert D. Yeoman

Critic Reviews:

•  Roger Ebert: "Anderson always fills his films with colors, never garish but usually definite and active. In "Moonrise Kingdom," the palette tends toward the green of new grass, and the Scout's khaki brown. Also the right amount of red. It is a comfortable canvas to look at, so pretty that it helps establish the feeling of magical realism...The success of "Moonrise Kingdom" depends on its understated gravity. None of the actors ever play for laughs or put sardonic spins on their material. We don't feel they're kidding. Yes, we know these events are less than likely, and the film's entire world is fantastical. But what happens in a fantasy can be more involving than what happens in life, and thank goodness for that."
•  Manohla Dargis, NY Times: "Wes Anderson makes films about small worlds in which big things happen: love, heartbreak, calamities, death. In his latest, the wondrous storybook tale “Moonrise Kingdom,” a girl and a boy, both 12, run off to a remote inlet on an island where most of the adults seem disappointed and more than a little sad. The girl and the boy are very serious — about love, their plans, books, life itself — and often act older than their age...The people in his work, their passions and dramas, are true and recognizable — and rarely more deeply felt than in “Moonrise Kingdom” — but they exist in a world apart, one made with extraordinary detail, care and, I think, love by Mr. Anderson. Sometimes they’re called dollhouse worlds, though, truly, they feel more authentic than many screen realities...He draws you into his fantastical worlds with beauty and humor, and while their artifice can keep you at somewhat of a distance, this only deepens the story’s emotional power, especially when he lowers the boom, as he always does..But Sam and Suzy, while their story has the charms of a fairy tale and some of its terrors, aren’t playing at love. They are in love, and that is the most real thing in the world."

Plot summary:  A fantastical story about two young pre-teens in love. They live on a small island and are surrounded by unhappy adults. They conspire to be together and overcome obstacles to stay together. 

Narrative: most of the film is a third person narrative that follows the lovers, omniscient; interspersed with direct address via the storyteller who acts as the "oracle"; The narrative is neutral.

Characters: 

• Suzy - very intense young girl who loves fantastical novels and her kitten; she is very sad that her family doesn't understand her
• Sam - orphan who is very strange and doesn't have any friends; he is very bright but so quirky that others are uncomfortable around him.
• Captain Sharp -  is a not so bright, but caring policeman; he is in love with Suzy's mother but she does not love him back
• Scout Master Ward - Tough, but caring scout master; he is responsible for Sam's group and is pragmatic enough to realize that Sam is just not popular
• Ms. Roberts - Suzy's mother; she is very harsh with her family but kind and caring when Suzy is sad; she is in an affair with Captain Sharp but breaks it off when it is discovered and does not seem to agonize over the break-up

Implicit meaning: If taken as an opera, there is a sense of destiny about the star-crossed lovers who find a place for their love in a cruel, uncaring world. 

Movie Scene: Camping at the poorly named-cove for the first time. 

• Setting: Cove on the trail; rocky beach with two rocks that perfectly mark its entrance
• This scene is significant because Sam and Suzy finally are comfortable with each other. They have accepted their differences. Their first evening was marked by awkward questions and silences, but at the cove they even take off their clothes and walk around in their underwear. The cove has no true name and Suzy tells Sam that it needs a more appropriate name signifying their compatibility. They carve out their own space to read fanatical novels, smoke a corn-cob pipe, create paintings and pierce Suzy's ears. They are are home even though the odds are against them. 

Judgment: There is not one scene in this movie that is not beautiful. The colors are rich and nostalgic. Every shot is composed to create a sense of balance in a very quirky world that isn't quire right. It is more of a fairy tale, than a regular story. The flood and lighting gave Sam his love and family.