Wes Anderson’s Cannes opening-night film is a highly idiosyncratic, impeccably made portrait of young love circa 1965. With Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton. “Hilarious and heartfelt.” — Rolling Stone
Literate, melancholy and magical, Moonrise Kingdom is quintessential Wes Anderson, infused with his brand of daffy wit.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2012
Moonrise Kingdom 2012
How could we not be the first in town with the film that opened Cannes?
“In the immaculately designed, emotionally charged bubble [that] filmmaker Wes Anderson builds around the 1965 New England summer, first love blooms. Sam (Jared Gilman) is an orphan at the mercy of foster parents and his Scout troop. Suzy (Kara Hayward) lives in a lighthouse with three younger brothers, two lawyer parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) and an urge to bust free. Sam, she decides, is her man. No one understands their attraction. Hell, they’re both 12. He’s a string bean in thick glasses, and she’s cool enough to wear eyeliner. But Anderson, who wrote the resonant script with Roman Coppola, knows their secret hearts. So when the kids run away… Anderson is right there with them…
Adults soon intrude on their paradise. There’s a hurricane coming, announces the film’s narrator (a delightful Bob Balaban). The scoutmaster (an engagingly wacked-out Edward Norton) organizes a search party with the help of his chief (Harvey Keitel) and Ben, a scam artist in scout's clothing played by a stellar Jason Schwartzman… The police captain (a becomingly non-macho Bruce Willis) is also on the case, pressured by Suzy’s mom, with whom he’s having an affair. The top-tier cast, including Tilda Swinton as a character called Social Services, may be star overload, but each actor performs small miracles…
Shot with a poet's eye by Robert Yeoman and lifted by an Alexandre Desplat score that samples Mozart, Hank Williams and Benjamin Britten, the hilarious and heartfelt Moonrise Kingdom is a consistent pleasure.” — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone