Moonrise Kingdom

Rating: 10/10 (21 September 2012)

Moonrise Kingdom is the type of film that is beautiful and quite something to behold on several different levels. First off, the film looks amazing. It takes place in 1965 and with the wonderful cinematography of the film as well as the colour contrast they use for the buildings, sky, wilderness and so on, it all looks so beautiful and some scenes leap out at you almost because of their bright beautiful primary colours and others suggest a scene that may be more serious, or downplayed, but whatever the mood, or setting of said scene the film looks fantastic and certainly deserves a cinematography nomination among other things at next year's Academy Awards. The music of the film which mostly uses a lot of famous classical pieces such as Benjamin Britten, for example are all very beautiful and set the tone and feel of the film wonderfully as well. The film is actually quite concerned with music and it does have somewhat to do with the plot and the classical pieces among others that have been chosen for the film all sound beautiful and really create atmosphere and the moods and tones of each scene they are set in. So, Moonrise Kingdom is certainly a joy for the eyes with it's beautiful looking cinematography as well as production and art design and it also sounds great, but to say that is where the film stops on it's numerous levels of mass achievements would be totally unfair to the film and not giving credit where it is really due. The film about two young lovers who run away and the wonderfully eccentric townspeople who go looking for them has a lot more to it than what it may seem. Through the eyes of this young boy and girl (Sam and Suzy to be exact) we are somehow transported back to our own childhood and adolescent years and with great storytelling and character study we are able to connect and relate to these two young characters. Growing up everyone has their own story of their teenage years, their first love, their relationships with others, but the film does deal with some issues that should be universal and has hit all of us at one time, or another. Issues such as not belonging, or feeling like a misfit. You may be surrounded by all sorts of different peers and family members, but how many of them really get you as a person and can start a conversation, or even a friendship with you, or is it too difficult for them and also perhaps for you because of insecurities and differences of hobbies, interests and above all perception. When we are young we judge people by the clothes they wear, what they are into and all sort of superficial things that we later regret later on in life. However because of this we have often excluded and been the cause of hurt feelings and isolation to others. That is explored here. The dysfunctional relationships we can have with our parents where we may not always understand them and on the same topic they may not always understand you is developed here. However through it all, these two characters do connect and fall in love and start what is actually a very beautiful and endearing friendship. While the film could have been depressing, or another movie about today's so called "lost youth", the film takes a different direction by instead embracing and celebrating what not only makes these characters different among their peers, but with the adult characters as well. We start to understand them better and care for them and maybe we were too harsh to judge them at first alongside the actors who share screen time with them. The film is ultimately a wonderful feel good film and it's brimming with such wonderful originality and creativity, I think it would be hard for some not to like it. Yes, the film has a style and tone all of it's own, but is so uniquely different and wonderful, instead of criticizing it, let's celebrate and reward it for the originality on display here. The actors from young and old all do a terrific job here and overall Moonrise Kingdom, is terribly and wonderfully original and creative and has the power to remind us of our childhood and maybe can even help heal some of those wounds with it's beautiful and entertaining story. One of the best films of 2012.