Directed by Wes AndersonWritten by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola★ Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward
Watching Moonrise Kingdom was an informative event for me. I learned several important things, starting with my realizing that Wes Anderson is one of the greatest filmmakers I know (judging from this film), to realizing that I still wish I'd have lived in the 60s, to finally and definitely realizing that when there's a hype in the blogosphere, there's a reason for it.
Oh sweet 60s. We never met, but I've heard of you, and now Moonrise Kingdom only added up to my longing for you. The times when popular music was good music, when young adult books had adorable covers and when everything was just... so much better. I'm sure that everything wasn't perfect in your times either, I just like dwelling in nostalgia and melancholia. What can I say, it's all David Guetta's fault. No, actually it's the fault of the thousands of people that like him. Come back, Françoise Hardy, come back to us! Come back, times when mini dresses with pan-collars, knee socks and brogue shoes didn't make you look like a snobby hipster! Please, I'm drowning in a world full of reality tv and casting shows!
Ah... taking a deep breath. This is why movie addiction is a dangerous hobby. It can make you despair of problems you didn't even know you had. Although perhaps I'd know about this particular problem without having to see a movie. It's just... it brings it all up to the surface, you know?
Not just the world that vanished 40 years ago, but also the kingdom of childhood. The time when I used to read fantasy and adventure novels all summer long and either felt overly euphoric, relaxed or depressed. Wait, this still describes my life pretty well. Okay, not entirely. I don't feel depressed very often. And I read other books than just fantasy and adventure. But I just want to say that this mixture of... nostalgia, childhood and dreamy determination, paired with adventure, my favorite season of the year and music... makes me happy. And confuzzled, to make use of my new favorite word once again.
I also asked myself - and so did my cinema companions, mom and her best friend - what audience Moonrise Kingdom is catered to. It's not a movie for kids - although I think they would enjoy parts of it. Not the reality tv kind of kids, but the normal sweet kids - I know they still exist, I babysit some of the kind. I'd have liked it as a kid, despite not fully understanding it. It's also not a movie for blockbuster grown-ups, not even a movie for the general filmgoer. It's a movie for me. For us. I will bet... I'll bet a lot of fictional money that no one in the movie blogging community around me - meaning no blogger from a blog I follow - who has seen this film, didn't like it. Perhaps it wasn't an extremely delicious piece of chocolate cream cake for everyone, but dislike, or strong resentment? I can't imagine.
Moonrise Kingdom is our kingdom. The kingdom in which everything is possible and dreams come true in a very stylish way, with enough scratches on its surface to make it cozy instead of glossy. That's perfection.
