The opening film of the 2012 Cannes Festival, nominated for Oscar and Golden Globe, is a story of first love and coming of age. Typically for Wes Anderson, it is based on personal remembrances and unfolds in a retro American setting.
Wes Anderson’s films win audiences over with their unique atmosphere and a touch of tenderness towards the world and the characters. Moonrise Kingdom is no exception: taking place on an imaginary island in New England, in the early fall of 1965, this cinematic fantasy will definitely make you smile.
Following several months of pen pal correspondence, twelve-year-olds Sam and Suzy, who had met each other at Benjamin Britten’s opera Noye’s Fludde, make a date and set on a journey to finally reunite. While looking for the runaway kids together, the eccentric characters of this sentimental fairy tale (played by Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton and Bruce Willis) each discover something intimately important in the process.
The film is widely considered the quintessence of Anderson’s signature manner, where visual stylization of a fictional past, accomplished with pure excellence here, is echoed by an equally perfect soundtrack, which includes songs by the legendary Hank Williams, along with classical pieces by Saint-Saëns, Schubert and, of course, Britten.
Moonrise Kingdom
Director Wes Anderson. USA, 2012, 94'
12+