Thursday, January 10, 2013

What kind of bird are you?


How can you tell that I’m such a Wes nerd? For Christmas, I got both the DVD and the soundtrack of his newest film, Moonrise Kingdom! So, although I was planning on reviewing each of his films in the order that they were released, it’s not going to happen. I’m just too excited to not review Moonrise Kingdom now. I’ve watched it at home three times already!
Moonrise Kingdom is the newest, most well known, and most loved of all of Wes Anderson’s films. To me, it is the most beautifully filmed, and musically pleasing of all of his movies.
 Fantasy and reality merge together to create the unrecognizable environment of New Penzance, an imaginary island set off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965. Two twelve year olds, Sam, an orphan who is involved with the Khaki Scout troop on the island, and Suzy, a semi-depressed and semi-violent girl who lives on the island, have just run away. (They had met a year before, and had fallen in love instantly.) The adults of the island, and some armed Khaki Scouts who are going after the “fugitives”, come together to search for them. Meanwhile, a dangerous storm is forming that threatens to destroy the island.
Suzy and Sam journey to an inlet, which they rename “Moonrise Kingdom”, free from the constraints of adults and society telling them what to do. There they can explore their relationship, and their place in the world. During their journey they both stun the other with their ignorance. When Suzy opens up to Sam about finding a, “How to Cope With A Troubled Child,” book, he laughs. She informs him that it’s not funny, and stomps off. At another point, Suzy, an avid reader and a lover of fantasy novels, tells Sam that she believes that orphans are more special than children with families. (I can relate. When I was a child, I would play “orphan” with my neighbors, who I could persuade to believe me.) Sam tells her that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. They realize that it is the bumpy parts of their relationship that actually bring them closer together, a lesson most adults still haven’t learned.
After a day of freedom, the adults arrive. Sam and Suzy, inside their small tent, awaken at the sound of a helicopter. Sam unzips the tent to find the cause of the noise. The whole search party is there. Sam quickly zips the tent up again. Suzy’s father yells, and uncovers them. Sam and Suzy clutch each other as they are torn apart.
Sam and Suzy are in separate, secluded sections of a boat that is bringing them to the main part of the island. Suzy is promised that she shall never see Sam again. Her brothers call her a traitor. Sam is visited by his ex-Scout Master who delivers a letter from Sam’s foster parents. Sam, who believed that he and his foster parents were finally becoming a family, learns that they have decided not to allow him to return. They have left his fate to Social Services, who will decide whether he will be placed in an orphanage, or undergo shock therapy to cure his behavioral disorders.
Suzy is returned to her home, and Sam is released into the Policeman’s care until Social Services arrives. During the night, the Khaki Scouts realize that they have been terribly mean to Sam, and help him and Suzy escape together again. They all row to the nearby island Scouting Community, where a cousin of one of the scouts, named Ben, will be able to find work for Sam in a new life. The storm is finally beginning to develop as they reach the shore.
The group finds Cousin Ben, who agrees to help, and even to non-legally marry Sam and Suzy. After the ceremony, Sam, Suzy, and Ben sail away into the sea, leaving the Khaki Scouts on the shore. However, they soon return. Suzy forgot her binoculars, which she likes to think of as her magic power. Sam runs quickly to retrieve them. The storm is becoming active.
 Sam runs into his enemy, another Khaki Scout, while searching for Suzy’s binoculars. They fight. His enemy yells, which alerts the rest of the other Scouting Community of Sam’s presence. Sam runs for it. They chase him into a field. He is struck by lightening.
 Everything begins to unravel into the unbelievable: A flood caused by the storm ravages the town, the Scout Commander at the neighboring scouting community is the victim of a fireworks fire, Suzy and Sam are saved by the local Policeman, after lightning blows the church top off, leaving them hanging off the edge of the building, and Sam is adopted by the Policeman. The movie has a happy ending. Sam has a home. Suzy and Sam are allowed to see each other. They are still in love. Though their inlet disappeared because of the storm, it is still their special place.
The chaos that follows the lightning strike has inspired some conspiracies. The most popular ideas are that Sam actually died when shocked, and the rest of the movie is his sort of dream sequence. Another is that the lightning strike was actually shock therapy and the rest of the movie was his way of coping with it.
            Like I said earlier, Moonrise Kingdom is the most visually striking of all of his films.  It was filmed with the goal of looking like a 1960’s film. The result is magical. Every scene looks like artwork- so beautiful that is must be unreal.
One of the reasons for this is the film they used. 16 mm film is often used in low budget videos, such as educational or industrial. It was most popular in the 1960s. This film gave Moonrise Kingdom its’ warm, faded visual.
            Though Wes used retro film, he also decided to use modern editing systems to tweak the visual result.  “Before this movie, Wes always kept it as true to the original as possible in the DI,” says Yeoman. “But this time he pushed himself to use the tools more extensively, and I was very excited with the results.”
             The soundtrack is absolutely stunning; it utilizes a varied array of genres to create a rustic, mysterious, and thrilling atmosphere. Some songs, like Kaw-liga, Long Gone Lonesome Blues, and Ramblin’ Man help substantiate the time-period and rural area that the movie takes place. Others, like the children’s choir and instrumental segments emphasize the mystifying, and adventurous aspects of the film. In all, the plot truly benefits from the musical environment that it is in.
            Like many of his other films, the themes of coping with death, searching for a family, and finding one’s place as an adult, can be found in Moonrise Kingdom. Sam has lost his parents, and cannot find another family that accepts him unconditionally. Suzy feels isolated from her family, and wants to feel like she belongs. They discover each other, and, by loving one another, find their place in the world. Sam is adopted. Suzy gradually feels not as alone. They realize that they can be their own family.  Suzy and Sam are unsure and confused about what they’re feeling.  However, they are ready to be what they think it means to be an adult. They want to be free to love each other, and to create their own world independent from adult control.
            One of the symbols of this film is letters. The most important letters are the ones that Suzy and Sam corresponded with while they were pen pals. It reminds me of Rushmore, where letters were also used for character development. The stationary, writing utensil and writing style illustrates the kind of person they are.
            Overall, I truly enjoyed this film. It perfectly exemplifies the uncomfortable-in-one’s-own-skin feeling that children, who are ready to be adults, go through.


Heuring, David. "Cinematographer Robert Yeoman Talks Super 16 Style on Moonrise Kingdom." Studio Daily. 25 2012: n. page. Web. 8 Jan. 2013. <http://www.studiodaily.com/2012/05/cinematographer-robert-yeoman-talks-super-16-style-on-moonrise-kingdom/>.

" 16 Frames the Story of Teenaged Sweethearts in Moonrise Kingdom ." In Camera. 14 2012: n. page. Web. 8 Jan. 2013. <http://motion.kodak.com/motion/publications/incamera/super_16_frames_the_story_of_teenaged_sweethearts_in_moonrise_kingdom.htm>.

 

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