Over & Overs: Moonrise Kingdom
Thursday, August 15, 2019 at 12:00PM TFE is kicking off a new series. We began, unofficially with Julie & Julia and now each week a Team Member will share a movie they can't help but watch frequently, whenever it comes up. Here's Ginny O'Keefe...
-What kind of bird are you?”
-I’m a Raven”
And that kids, is how I met your mother. One of my sweetest “Over and Over” movies is the criminally underrated Wes Anderson film Moonrise Kingdom. This 2012 gem follows two young kids in 1960’s New England who fall in love with each other and decide to run away into the wilderness so they can be together. One is a resourceful, kind orphan who’s been sent away to join the Khaki Scouts. The other is a troubled, solitary, creative bookworm feeling smothered by her overbearing family. The entire town goes on a manhunt for the two lovebirds before a massive storm hits and the Wes Anderson preciousness and hilarity ensues...
My favorite times to watch this film are when I’m sick or when it’s a rainy day. It will cheer me up and fill up my day with brightness and fun whether it may be because I’m watching kittens in basket, children building a shoddy treehouse, or Frances McDormand yell through a bullhorn. The colors, the child-like wonder of the cinematography, and the dry sense of humor really hit me hard and make me smile. I saw the film in theatres when it first premiered back in 2012 with my parents and we could not stop laughing the entire time. Wes Anderson has always been a favorite director of mine because of his unique and playful style, and this mixing with the precociousness of young actors in adult situations just makes the film so much more enjoyable. I love watching the love story between Suzy and Sam unfold. They don’t really know each other when they first meet up to run away together and then they end up peeling back the layers of pain and misunderstanding from one another and slowly fall in love. They both live vastly different lives, but they both understand why the other is in so much pain.
“I always wanted to be an orphan. Most of my favorite characters are. I think your lives are more special.”- Suzy
“I love you but you have no idea what you’re talking about.”- Sam
“I love you too.”- Suzy
This film is about growing up and compromising. What’s so great about it is how the kids, throughout most of the film, act more mature than the adults. The parents, the leaders of the Khaki Scouts, and law enforcement seem to be handling the whole situation with bad attitudes and terrible decision-making. Some of my favorite scenes include the make out scene on the beach between Suzy and Sam who have no idea what they’re doing. The wilderness scouts facing off with Suzy and Sam in the woods (sadly resulting in a dead Jack Russell Terrier). Bill Murray throwing his shoe at Edward Norton. And the wilderness cadets coming to the realization that they need to help their fellow cadet re-unite with his love because they owe him that much and it is the right thing to do. All while having close to dead-pan delivery in each scene. Every time I finish watching this film, I stay through the credits solely for the amazing score and adorable title sequences. I can’t help but smile to the sounds of the “cuckoooo…cuckoooo” fading in the background. This sweet love story never fails to make me feel better. It’s the love story we wished we had growing up, the kind we dreamed of. Watching it is like being in a sweet Wes Anderson dream for just a little while, and it’s on a beautiful beach away from everyone else and all responsibilities.
Reader Comments (6)
I love this film. It's just a whole lot of fun but also compelling in its exploration of young love and being misunderstood by adults.
its so funny how different everyone's experiences can be. I actually loved this film when I first saw it but I've never watched it again. Hopefully the chance for a revisit can come soon. thanks for sharing, Ginny.
I love this column idea. Some movie lovers I know never revisit films... how can they resist?
I adore this film.
Thanks for the text and for reminding me that I have to watch it again.
I gave up on determining the "best picture" or the "greatest films of all time" years ago. It's such a waste of time. There are about a dozen movies that are REALLY important to me, that I watch over and over and love introducing my friends to.
Was Six Degrees of Separation the "best picture" of 1993? Probably not...and no one would say so. But in my personal canon it's much more valuable than Schindler's List or The Piano. *shrug*
Don't like this one at all. I liked Wes Anderson's early films a lot, but he lost me along the way. His recent ones seem so lost in their overwrought production design and turned-up-to-eleven quirkiness that I find it hard to find any humanity in the characters.
This a typically beautifully designed and shot film with some good performances... but I can't believe a single second of it. I actually was a kid - and boy scout - in the mid-sixties, and it was nothing like this twee nonsense.