The innocence and inexperience of young love

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2015)

One of my all-time favourite films is 'Melody' (1971, aka S.W.A.L.K.), and although it's a very different film, when I stumbled upon Moonrise Kingdom I was struck by a number of similarities. Moonrise Kingdom features Sam, a Boy Scout who falls in love at first sight with fellow 12 year-old Suzy, in the context of a musical theatre production. In Melody, 10 year-old Boys' Brigade member Daniel is equally stricken by Melody Perkins on spotting her in her school ballet class. The scene where Suzy's mother tries to sympathise with her daughter's heartache echoes that in which Melody's parents try to reason with her, and Suzy's poignant remark, 'We're in love. We just want to be together – what's wrong with that?' recall's Daniel's cry of 'All we want to do is be with one another all the time.' In both films the young couples run away together and undergo a 'marriage' ceremony aided and abetted by their peers, and other common factors are dysfunctional backgrounds and the conflict between youth and authority. There is also a strong musical element: Melody has songs by the Bee Gees, whereas Benjamin Britten, Hank Williams, Françoise Hardy and others provide the background for Moonrise Kingdom. Sam and Suzy (portrayed superbly by Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) are two years older and that much more mature than Danny and Melody, and this is reflected in the storyline. The general tenor is more quirky and the humour more subtle and deadpan, but Moonrise Kingdom has instantly appealed to me and found a well-deserved place among my best-loved films.