So I found it, the best film I've ever seen. Well call it the alcohol, the nostalgia, the joy coursing through my veins, I'm not sure exactly what it was that caused this sensation, perhaps it was the copious amounts of Baileys I've been quaffing, or the fact that it's Sunday and I got out of work early... Here I am, it's incredible, it's amazing, go away and watch it before I hunt you down and belt you to a chair and force you, I know that's creepy... Blame the alcolols...
Wes Anderson has looked over his filmography and taken every good aspect and whipped them into a delightful froth to give us his best effort yet. Nostalgia, adolescence, young love, Bill Murray wandering around topless and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol... No? So it's just me that thinks these are the best themes in any Wes Anderson film? Well there you go, these are the things I love about Anderson's films. I watched Fantastic Mr Fox over Christmas and felt mildly disappointed by it, but of course Wes Anderson had to test himself outside of the box before returning to something more familiar. I love that this film is about love and to be completely honest I've never been more in love with an on-screen couple since Eagle VS Shark, prepare to be superseded by the way Eagle VS Shark, as far as innocent quirky romance goes I think there might be a new holder of my heart. Of course I am prone to grand statements when I have drank lots of Bailey's, specifically.
The film is about young love, the lead characters Sam and Suzy, both 12 in 1965, on a small lonely island off the coast of New England on New Penzance. They find a common ground in their disconnection from pretty much everybody else and their shared loneliness, their send each other letters after a chance meeting and share their problems, their thoughts their feelings, and inevitably fall in love and then decide to run away together. There is a bunch of periphery characters buzzing about outside of the core love story, there is Bruce Willis playing the part of a dimwitted local Police Chief, Bill Murray and Frances McDormand playing Suzy's parents and Edward Norton taking the part of the Scouts Leader* The surprising thing is how much I didn't actually mind Edward Norton in this film, actually how much I was rooting for him throughout the film, he's got nothing going for him and proves to be a pretty lame Khaki Scout Leader and ends up proving himself somewhat** even though he's a bit of a sad sack throughout but I loved him. So here's the thing, even an actor like Edward Norton who I'd usually dismiss as being a ginormous pain in the arse, is a fleshed out character whom I can see directly into his soul in this film, and that's mostly thanks to Wes Anderson's excellent writing and skill as a Director. The entire cast are developed and given a shot to shine and actually breathe, for a film which clocks up just over and a half, for the majority of the cast to experience some growth and to have somewhat deep and fraught problems and personalities is impressive! Frances McDormand is (SPOILERS) cheating on Bill Murray with Bruce Willis, she's not happy with where is and is questioning it but is uncertain to break the status quo, Bruce Willis is a bit slow-witted but madly in love with Frances McDormand who is keeping him at arms length, Bill Murray is aware that his marriage isn't a particularly happy one, that and his life, him and Frances McDormand are uncertain about their daughter who has some emotional problems it would seem, but these problems probably stem mostly from their misunderstanding of each other. Then there is poor old Edward Norton who wants nothing more than to be the best damn Khaki Scout Leader he can be, but has a bunch of free spirited, if crazy, cub scouts, but isn't that great, of course he's a maths teacher second, a scout leader first! The fact he isn't very good and doesn't understand the boys causes him great distress, he's lonely, and afraid of failure which only too often occurs, and of course he's prancing about in tiny weeny shorts! I literally wanted to reach into the screen and give him a hug, I have never wanted to do that to Edward Norton! I am so impressed with how connected I felt to all of the main players it's unreal, and it's impressive, and it's heart warming! The fact that I love all the characters and actually give a massive shit what happens to them is amazing! I love this film!
Now about the core couple, Sam and Suzy, both 12 and both lonely not due to choice but more circumstance, they are both quite good at alienating others because they prefer solitude to the company of others. He is an orphan, no family and he has an abrasive personality which forces his foster parents to essentially disown him, then there is her, she has anger problems, she is lonely, she loves books set in other worlds or ones not too different from our own but where magical powers exist. When she runs away from home she brings along a suitcase of books full of these books; there are some adorable moments in the film where she reads out the books to Sam and other Khaki Scouts, they urge her to read on, it's adorable! So they find comfort in each other's company and find kindred spirits in one another. They find comfort in one another, an understanding, they share every detail of their complicated and sad lives and find happiness in spending time with each other, there is nothing sexual about it but they do kiss and dance in their underwear, but it's all in utmost innocence, they are young and in love and these is nothing more to it, they are in love because they have a mutual understanding, a mutual caring and affection, it has nothing to do with the fact that she is way out of his league, it's just that they see each other, they really know each other and that understanding of mutual spirits, of damaged and lonely individuals, that's a beautiful thing and hence why I care so much about them! It's a beautiful innocent little love story, they share their first kiss (presumably, I say presumably because it seems clear it's their first kiss to me, at least) and it's all so innocent and sweet!*** EDIT: It's significant too that their open and honest and pure relationship causes pretty much every other character to stop and reflect and their own unsatisfied and imperfect lives. Frances McDormand/Bruce Willis/Edward Norton/Bill Murray/heck even the Khaki Scouts, all stop and look at the way their lives are in comparison to the love birds and realise some changes need to be made, because the pair are just trying to live their lives the way they want to, this involves running away and doing something out of the ordinary, in comparison the rest are unhappy and settling with the way things are and have been left miserable. The film is showing us to go for what our dreams are, no matter how outlandish and different, if it feels right makes and makes you happy you'll be better in the long run... Run, right?****
Did I mention this film was so short? Too short even! Perhaps it's the good feelings, perhaps it's the fact I'm just so deliriously happy to watch a film that I loved throughout the first time round, it's probably the Bailey's, but this film is so amazing! I loved it so much! The nostalgia, the fact that not a second is wasted, the fact that I believe every relationship in the film, the fact that I'm so enamoured by the look and feel of the film. The fact that it all takes place in the the sixties, the style, the fashion, the colours, the fact that the Khaki Scouts look like so much fun! Did I even mention the fact that the music is awesome? I didn't?
This whole film is amazing. I can't stress this enough, this is more a drunken appreciation post than anything... But I have never been more in love with an on-screen couple, Joel and Clementine might have some competition, Lily and Jarrod definitely need to move over, as far as contemporary cinema couples go, the ones mentioned in this paragraph and the adorable Sam and Suzy are my favourites! Sam and Suzy possibly pipped the rest to the post because of their innocence, their adorableness, the fact that the film they hail from is my latest favourite film... Ok, that's it, I can't say much else... To be honest I'm a little distracted.***** So I shouldn't say much more, mainly because I've drank a lot... But not only is this an amazing Wes Anderson film (Wes Anderson is awesome), this is an amazing film period, in fact it's definitely clawing it's way into my favourite films in the universe. I appreciate a film with a distinct vision, a visual flair, an innocence and love that is both believable and heart warming, I appreciate that all the main characters are given a moment to breathe and are given personalities and souls, I love the music choices, I adore the fact that everything about this film is heart warming and drenched in honesty, I love that this film puts an enormous smile on my face. Nothing more can be said, just thinking about this film makes me smile, the mere memory of it will make me happy, this is perfection.
P.S. This is relevant to my Oscar Odyssey, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola received a Best Screenplay nod at the Oscars for Moonrise Kingdom - True Stories. In fact this year it's my hope that they win that award so someone I genuinely cares about takes home an Academy Award.
*I am aware that they are known as Khaki Scouts in the film and their logo appears to be a raccoon, but when I was a mere child, my childminder's daughter was a scout leader and strong believer that anything that the boys can do the women can do better. She introduced girls to the Scouts (it was strictly boys only back then Cubs - Scouts - Rangers), not that I joined being part of the Brownies (strictly girls only - Rainbows - Brownies - Guides,) and an all girls school from the age of 11, I used to go along to the scouts meetings every now and again. I'd run around and play with the boys and steal away into the church basement and stole into the Ket Shop (Sweets stall). So, I have some experience of the Khaki Scouts and the nostalgia is somewhat endearing to me along with the rest of it.
** *SPOILERS* And getting a girlfriend, I hope! :)
***This leads me to a short diatribe about my first kiss. I was 10, I am an identical female twin, my first kiss was with Christopher Wilkinson, a male identical twin, coincidentally my twin sister shared his first kiss with Phillip, his brother, go figure! There was some daring involved but for the most part I remember it being in the bushes at the park, it was wet and slimy and there was a park keeper who caught us one day when we went and hid in the bushes to do our business through the fence. It was pretty damn awkward and weird, but at 10 we were just experimenting I guess, me and my sister had scooters which we hated, and the boys had their sister's bikes we swapped, we'd ride around the park, mess around in the bushes and lie in the grass and run around and play, I guess...
**** This edit comes at 3am, waking up and coming upon a realisation that this is another reason this film is amazing. The core actions of this film permeate through to every other character, that's significant and beautiful, I wanted to use the term 'dovetail', it seemed like a good one, but I couldn't seem to shoe-horn it in there... I'm so damn tired, I'm going to see the doctor in the morning, I've been putting it off for months, since it became apparent something is wrong, I'm so scared, I can't sleep, the bottle of Baileys didn't help in the end... Go figure... Also I have a root canal after that, who else hates Mondays... Anyone?
***** I'm watching it's complicated on Channel 4, for somebody I know, Something's Gotta Give is one of their most favourite films, and now we're drunk and watching Nancy Meyer's other film for old folks who are in love and doing rumpy-pumpy. My boyfriend has pointed out, the women in these films always have amazingly huge and well designed houses. I feel really bad for John Krasinski in this film. Also, I keep saying Meryl, 'I beat Meryl' - Thank you Jennifer Lawrence. Meryl is such an odd word, or name, I can't stop saying it... Also this film is amazing... Perhaps my judgement is impaired, perhaps you can take this whole entry as null and void because I'm drunk and Moonrise Kingdom is an awesome film but I am extremely drunk. To be honest I'm not under the erroneous impression that Nancy Meyers films are the best ever (they aren't...) but I am prone to superlatives when inebriated. To be completely honest though I will watch Moonrise Kingdom again and again and I doubt I'll ever stop loving it, this film is perfection in my alcohol addled eyes, and it doesn't take a bottle of Bailey's to change this, sobre I would want to bear hug this film...
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