Screened as part of NZIFF 2012

Moonrise Kingdom 2012

Directed by Wes Anderson

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

USA In English
99 minutes

Director

Producers

Wes Anderson
,
Scott Rudin
,
Steven Rales
,
Jeremy Dawson

Screenplay

Wes Anderson
,
Roman Coppola

Photography

Robert Yeoman

Editor

Andrew Weisblum

Production designer

Adam Stockhausen

Costume designer

Kasia Walicka Maimone

Music

Alexandre Desplat
,
Mark Mothersbaugh

With

Bruce Willis (Captain Sharp)
,
Edward Norton (Scout Master Ward)
,
Bill Murray (Mr Bishop)
,
Frances McDormand (Mrs Bishop)
,
Tilda Swinton (Social Services)
,
Jared Gilman (Sam)
,
Kara Hayward (Suzy)
,
Jason Schwartzman (cousin Ben)
,
Bob Balaban (the narrator)
,
Harvey Keitel (Commander Pierce)

Festivals

Cannes (In Competition) 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