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Moonrise Kingdom
(2012)
by Johnny Web (Uncle
Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)
The year is 1965. Two pre-teen misfits, one
of each gender, become close pen pals. They eventually
decide to meet and run away together. Their journey is
not an easy one since they live on a New England island
with no paved roads. The boy is an experienced scout,
however, so he leads the way, and brings everything
necessary for wilderness survival. The girl, on the
other hand, is an impractical dreamer who shows up in
her Sunday school shoes and brings only a few items of
clothing, her six favorite books, her kitten, her
ubiquitous binoculars and a battery-powered record
player.
The story follows their budding relationship and the
attempts of the adult world to locate their "Moonrise
Kingdom," which is what they call the campsite they
establish on a lovely tidal inlet in late summer. The
adults are distressed not only by the implications of
the kids' precocious sexuality, but also by the fact
that New England is about to be hit by the storm of the
century, and the kids are oblivious to their peril.
Certain directors have a style so distinctive that one
can watch only a few minutes of their movies before
saying "This must be a ________ movie." We don't have
many of those people any more. Most of today's biggest
directors hide their own voices and completely adapt
their approach to the material in their current project.
There's no such thing as a typical Spielberg movie, or a
typical Soderbergh, Eastwood, Fincher, Verhoeven,
Cameron, Scorsese, etc. On the other hand, we can still
hear distinctive voices when we leave the realm of the
blockbusters. Woody Allen's films seem to be more
generic than in years past, but the dialogue still
retains Woody's special cadences. Other classic auteurs
who still leave their marks on every scene include
Aronofsky, Mike Leigh, Gondry, Tim Burton ...
... and Wes Anderson.
Anderson's films are easily identified by his gentle,
offbeat humor, his eccentric families, his magic
realism, his rich palette, the inevitable deadpan
expressions he requires from his actors, and his
ensemble casts which always seem to include Bill Murray
and Jason Schwartzman. Anderson's efforts are not just
distinctive films, but good ones as well. Yes, he's a
weirdly creative dude, but he's also a very talented one
with a good heart. None of his films are rated below 7.0
at IMDb, and this particular one is rated 8.3 (in the
top 250 of all time), a highly positive evaluation
supported by 94% of the critics.
I agree completely with those lofty appraisals. There's
really not a weak scene or character in this film, and
the film's dramatic tension is created without any
broadly conceived antagonists or cartoon
characterizations of evil. There are times when we
dislike some of the adults and some of the boy's fellow
scouts, but in the end we get to see them as people who
are capable of reaching out to others with
understanding. The kids are brilliant in their roles.
Every one of the adults is fascinating and absolutely
unique. No character is generic; no characterization is
perfunctory. Anderson takes the time to make every role
distinctive, and his usual repertory cast is ably
supported by superstars Bruce Willis and Edward Norton
as two meek doofuses who eventually reveal unsuspected
depths of courage and compassion.
Anderson's attention to detail is amazing. While his
characters are not especially true-to-life, at least not
to OUR life, they are completely distinct, and their
lives are so richly detailed that they seem utterly
credible within their own universe. Anderson enjoys
creating every last detail of his realms, and the people
are only one aspect of that. The depth of his creativity
is illustrated by the girl's six favorite books. None of
those books exist in our world, but Anderson created
them from scratch in detail, and they come complete with
plot summaries, book jackets with pictures of fake
authors, and even long passages to be read aloud. The
books are just one example of Anderson's creative
process. One could write essays about the detailed
geography he created for the fictional island locale, or
about the various ersatz merit badges and insignia worn
by the fictitious "khaki scouts." He could have used
books from the real world, or the real insignia of the
boy scouts, but he obviously enjoys creating and
controlling every aspect of his universe, so that it
resembles ours, but is not quite the same. That slight
difference gives him a lot of latitude to add his quirky
humor to his stories.
It's an odd little film, but tender, and brilliantly
done. In a world filled with sequels and comic book
adaptations, I would love to see a pure cinema offering
like this to get nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
This is the sort of inventive, original work which makes
use of the unique capabilities of the film medium, and
we should celebrate it as we once celebrated the power
of the best literary inventions.
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