Moonrise Kingdom

Another long flight was made palatable by a delightful movie to watch and savor. I picked 'Moonrise Kingdom' by the name of Wes Anderson in it. Though not a great fan of his works, I like the stories he pick up and I was glad that I watched it.

'Moonrise Kingdom' also boosts Fraces McDormand - one of my favorite actors from the days of watching her in that all-time favorite Coen Brother's 'Fargo'. She doesn't disappoint either.

'Moonrise Kingdom' tells a story of childhood romance and the initial exploration of sexuality. It is the story of Sam, an young orphan - 12 yrs old - and Suzy, again of the same age. Both troubled kids, with mood swings and depression as well, elope from their island home and the search for them in that small community creates fissures while the kids go through a passionate experience of their own.

Sam - living in a foster parents home - and attending a Khaki Scout camp - elopes with his pen pal friend, Suzy. They take a remote trial in the island and camp and survive a couple of days. Suzy's parents - Mr & Mrs Bishop (Bill Murray and Frances) - start the search along with the island police officer Mr. Sharp (Bruce Willis). Mrs. Bishop has an ongoing affair with Mr. Sharp - which seems to be an open secret with everybody in the know. 

The primary theme is the sexual initiation of Sam and Suzy - and I've to admit, at times, it was a little uneasy to watch. But the scenes were handled with a lot of sensitivity and what could've become a easy way to spice it up becomes a very tender exploration of the way the transition from a child to a teenager happens. 

The other part of the story is the dysfunctional nature of the lives of everyone - including Sam and Suzy - with Suzy going through depression episodes and Sam - labelled a troubled kid - is to put into electroshock therapy by the 'social services'. 

The island and the weather becomes an integral part of the movie with the slight moody climate of the initial scenes reach their crescendo with the storm and lightning by the time the movie reaches its climax. 

The colors and symmetry of the movie is very hard to miss and difficult to take the eyes off. The bright colors of the camp sites, Suzy's dresses, the sails, the island and squares and rectangles of the houses, the police outpost or the Scout camps and forts, the tree houses , the rooms in Suzy's house, the carpets in the climax and a hundred other details just make it such a wondrous creation of art to watch.

Of course, I was thinking of the other 'coming of age' movie by I.V.Sasi - 'Ina' (Malayalam). The story was very similar to this one but 'Ina' was a early 1980's movie with the corny problems of the 1980's Indian movie. Being in Malayalam, the movie also garnered a notorious name but I remember watching it in college days and found it to be very matured in the Indian context of what sexual themes in cinema was all about.

Then, 'Moonrise Kingdom' moves with a lot of sensitivity but also uses a lot of symbolism to get the message across. The ear-piercing scene - with the fish hook and the streak of blood dripping - showing the loss of virginity was one. The church opera sequence on 'Noye's Fludde' with reference to the big storm coming the island's way was another. The introduction of Suzy as a Raven -with all the mythical allegories that go with the raven - is another powerful one. 

Without seeing any of these, the movie alone stands very interesting in its story telling. To me, another take away is also to look at the problems in the Indian way of parenting - the suppression of sex and the consequences of the same in the 20's and later - needs a real re-thinking on how we approach sex and our kids.