An early favorite at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Wes Anderson's latest whimsical peer into the inner-workings of the family unit is his greatest triumph in years. Bearing his unmistakable visual trademarks this film lacks the vapid eccentricities that have faulted his previous work and simply leaves the audience with an irresistibly endearing poem about the powers of young love.
Diverging from past films, this one centers on two children on a small island of the coast of New England. Bob Balaban sets the scene as the narrator, describing the island as unpaved, wooded Chickchaw territory. It is the 1960's, the people are simple, churchgoing folk. In three days time Hurricane Mabel will strike the region.
Suzy and Sam are two troubled preteens on the island--and they are in love. After a chance encounter at a rendition of Noah's Ark at the local church the two become pen pals until they finally decide to run away together on a ten day journey from one side of the island to the other. Suzy is depressive, violent, book-wormy and observant. Sam is curious, tactile and wise beyond his years. The two are freaks, but they find solace in the company of each other as two misfits with a common goal.
Sam is a member of the Khaki Scouts; he is always prepared with his raccoon cap and his woodland survival skills. Orphaned and troubled, he never made any friends at the Scouts, but his disappearance from the troupe sends Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) and the local policeman, Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis), on the hunt for him. Suzy's parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) also come into the chase after finding their daughter gone, leaving them with nothing but Sam's letters and watercolor nudes.
There is something uplifting about Anderson's treatment of the fantastic. The pastel, children's book world these hyperbolized characters inhabit feels like it bellowed its way out of the pages of stories Suzy is so fond of. They tell tales of magic and adventure as a metaphor for the struggles that children face. We accept that since these characters are young they can't know what life is about, but for them their problems are all too real and they are of the utmost importance. This film is not about magic, but it is magical and the struggles of this orphan and this misunderstood girl are very real to us.
I have a feeling that Anderson was one of these kids once. Artists are too often misunderstood, and I expect the person who imagined this singular world was someone who never had many friends himself. The escapism he pens into his narratives is bewildering and unreal, but as parables they are sometimes very poignant. In this case it is very much so. We are looking into the mind of this man when we watch his film much more completely than many other directors, and luckily for him he has created a majestic story was rich and detailed characters.
It is always funny and often hilarious. The absurd nature of this island is often injected with drops of razor-sharp wit. My favorite little additions included mentioning of the US Dept. of Inclimate Weather, a kid with an eye patch wielding a bow and arrow and Scout Master Ward's evening glass of brandy sitting next to the cot in his tent. The jokes are laugh-out-loud funny and played with a genius cast also including Tilda Swinton as Social Services, Harvey Keitel as Commander Pierce and Jason Schwartzman as Cousin Ben.
It's a real pleasure watching a movie with so many A-list actors which doesn't simply rely on their skills to make a fine picture. Anderson obviously had a very clear vision as to what he wanted to give to his audience and was meticulous in its framing and direction. He was also fortunately gifted with two great new-comers, Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman as the kids. Their conviction to Anderson's peculiarities is admirable.
Interjected with the comedy is a very clear portrait of two people nearing and fearing adulthood trying to find a place they can call home. Their Moonrise Kingdom is as much each other as it is their destination. It is wistful, imaginative, exuberant and charming in equal measures. The pangs of young love and the glorious realization of family made me happy and appreciative of the world I inhabit as well.
4/4
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