Moonrise Kingdom
Tear: 2012
Director: Wes Anderson
Screenplay: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
I just saw one of the cutest films, the love story of two young kids who decide to run away and even get married! But I found Moonrise Kingdom more than that. Despite being a “running-away-love-story” set in 1965, this film approached the issues of being young and misunderstood in the kid’s perspective. Suzy and Sam are both “complicated” kids: Suzy is the oldest of 4 and the only girl, whose mother is having an affair with the village policeman, Captain Sharp (well, at least they meet to smoke and there’s something going on between them for sure), and is married to a depressed guy who does not satisfy her and is aware of that fact. Despite living in a big and beautiful house, they’re not that happy, mom and dad don’t even sleep in the same bed! All her brothers are quite young, so Suzy passes a lot of her time reading books and listening to music (on her little brother’s turntable). She’s also a girl that “goes berserk” sometimes, which causes her some not-so-good situations. Sam is an orphan with emotional problems at age 12, whose foster parents claim they cannot have him anymore because “it wouldn’t be fair for everyone” (???). He’s also the most unpopular boy at the campsite…
Sam is at a scouts’ campsite and the movie begins with his escape. The reason is because he met Suzy sometime earlier and the two immediately felt something for each other, so they eventually decide to run away together. Time passes and when Sam runs away, Suzy also leaves home with some of her most precious belongings: her binoculars (that she always carry with her, calling them her “superpower” because it makes her see things more closely), her kitty, some books and the turntable. Later when Suzy’s dad is told, by she might be at some friend’s house, he replies she hasn’t got any. So we have to outsiders here who fell for each other and decide to leave everything behind, even if it has consequences for those around them and putting everyone looking for them.
I found this movie very touching, despite the funny parts. Sam is treated like… well, not as a person for sure. Because his actual foster parents don’t want him anymore, he runs the risk of being put in electroshock treatment at some Juvenile Refuge. This is something that is still done today, but besides that, many people (not only children) are treated (in terms of medical care) without taking into account the person’s background, consent, opinion or feelings. Luckily for Sam, Captain Sharp has a golden heart and decides he wants to keep the boy, avoiding his horrible fate. Therefore, Suzy is able to continue to see her husband (they have a more or less an official marriage). Suzy thinks her mother does not understand her and she herself does not understand what’s wrong in wanting to be with the person you love. All the commotion is because Sam is known to be an orphan with emotional problems, so part of the adults want him just… away. Anyway, the two are very closed within themselves, as, I think, all teens are. And that can be very dramatic, as I think I already said in earlier posts.
Another touching scene is when the rest of the boys at the campsite, instead of ostracizing their comrade, decide to help him in his escape (his second escape I mean, Sam and Suzy are caught in the woods, and eventually return home: Suzy to her parents’ and Sam to Captain Sharp’s). So the crew decides to “rescue” Sam from Captain Sharp’s house in the middle of the night, with Suzy with them! Everyone sail on canoes to the other side of the sore, where there’s another campsite in which is one of the boy’s cousin, who would help Sam and Suzy escape from the island, never to be seen again. In the meantime, there’s a storm cooking up in the skies, so we get a little tension: are the kids going to survive this escape all by themselves in the middle of that epic storm? In the meantime, everyone is worried and trying to find, first just Sam and Suzy, the the whole team, which leads to some situations…
Another interesting thing I saw in this film was the innocence of two young people, discovering each other and themselves, who are not even ashamed, because after all, they were both alike and in the middle of nowhere, in a little stoned beach, to which they decide to call Moonrise Kingdom. As they are camping there, the two dance, hold hands, hug and kiss. They decide to try the french kiss and Suzy tells Sam he can touch her breasts. So yes, the two are exploring each other and the scene is so innocent because they are so open with each other, they are so true. Eventually they are caught, as I said, and the image of the two is (in my opinion, I know I’m often too emotional…) so touching: two little birds in their underwear, hugging each other inside the tent, which is blown by the big bad wolf, Suzy’s father, who’s angry and frustrated at the same time, with all the rest of the people watching! They just want to be together!!! But Sam and Suzy don’t seem to belong to one another: Suzy is very pretty and Sam is still very “dorky” (I know I use this expression a lot… but look at him!!). Sometimes people even get impressed that Suzy is “his girl”. Well, maybe if she was a “normal” girl who doesn’t stab people with scissors, she would be with a “normal” boy, but the two are just fine the way they are. They only met once – when they first met – so when they reunite again, it shows a bit of crudeness. Despite Sam taking her flowers and everything, the two treat each other almost professionally, planning the escape with a map and making an inventory of their belongings! I guess that they get more and more sure they want to be with each other as their adventure progresses.
One thing I noticed was that, both kids are also super serious throughout the entire movie! They talk very seriously and act very seriously, that’s why the movie sometimes reminded me of other films (like the Bride of Chucky for instants, although it has nothing to do with it!!!) It shows especially in the second escape, when the two decide to get married, seem two young adults instead of two 12 year olds! Later, in a scene when they are about to jump together into the rain, in a possible suicide, Sam tells Suzy that if they die, he’s thankful for her having married him, so they are sure they want to be together, as friends more than lovers, this shows they are thankful for having found a friend like themselves. More: they often say things very fast, meaning they don’t say it directly, but end up saying them anyway. Like in the clip above, “I love you but you don’t know what you’re talking about” – there, no pause next to the “I love you”. And the she only responds to that part: it’s the only scene where they say they love each other to each other. There are other scenes when the two talk like this, the important part is always there, but it’s said like if it has the same importance as the rest of the sentence.
So this is it, this is what I have to say about this movie. It’s an adventurous love story between two kids who don’t fit so well, it’s funny, it’s touching, it’s cute. And the shots are almost like reading a comic book, i liked that a lot. What do you think?
Movie Generation 