Cannes 2012: Moonrise Kingdom Review

rating:4

The past few years of Cannes have seen opening day slots for Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris, and this year follows the trend of offering the auspicious accolade to another of the more commercial auteurs presenting work on the Croisette, in the shape of the deliriously quirky Wes Anderson. His latest - Moonrise Kingdom is a fanciful tale of young love, following a pair of forbidden young lovers €“ Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) €“ who run away together to set up a life together, and cause a squall of chaotic activity as their parents, the police and the local scout brigade attempt to find them. It's hardly a complex plot, but as with all Anderson flicks, the pleasure is in the character portraits and the odd nuances that make for an almost magic-realist feel. The film explores more weighty issues than it's tone initially suggests: of abandonment, dysfunctional relationships and unsuitable parents, turning the world on its head to offer a perverse but touching world where children are mature and adults wholly unsuited to grown-up life. Anderson explores the contradictions of adult authority and their pompous and unlikely attraction to order and restrictive behaviour, but he does so in a framework that feels like a children's book grown up. The acting performances, particularly from the young leads are all excellent, and typically Anderson has brought in an impressive cast including some of his favourites (like Jason Schwartzman and Bob Balaban.) Added to those faces are Bruce Willis, Bill Murray and Edward Norton, all of whom stand out markedly, aided by an excellent script and an immersive almost fairy-tale world that defies the usual rules while remaining entirely mundane. That is the power of Anderson's work - to make a farce seem ludicrously normal, and though he is occasionally accused of only being able to "do whimsy," Moonrise Kingdom once more confirms him as a fantastically talented film-maker.