I frequently need to escape from my small world and crowded mind into somebody else's clear and larger imagination. As a still photographer, when that somebody's world is cinematically unique and stunning I am truly taken away.
"Moonrise Kingdom" arrived in the mail and sat unwatched by the television for a couple weeks. The typewritten description on the sleeve led me to wonder when and why I added it to my queue for it did not seem particularly intriguing. Well, whoever wrote that synopsis should re-think their employment because the movie was truly delightful!
Without going into detail and spoiling the journey for when you watch it (because you will watch it), the story follows a girl and boy of 12 years old in the 1960's who run away with each other. Sounds good? I didn't much think so either, but when you add an incredible ensemble cast with Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton and Harvey Keitel you find yourself falling into a well-crafted, beautifully acted and creatively filmed story world.
You relate to the young couple whose plight is timeless and ageless and acted with simplicity and subtlety that somehow gives it incredible depth. The adults surrounding them weave between with the humor and sadness that happens in real life. This was all captured with film so beautifully that I frequently paused to study scenes as still photographs with stimulating creativity.
In an hour and a half I escaped from my world just as the characters in the movie so desperately tried to escape from theirs, except that I know their ending and am clueless to mine.
