WORLD
First night: Moonrise Kingdom, Cannes Festival opening film
Baku, May 17 (AZERTAC). The polite applause at the end of the press screening of Wes Anderson`s Moonrise Kingdom was in keeping with the subdued opening to this year`s Cannes. In spite of the controversy about the lack of women film-makers in the programme and the usual publicity stunts, this has been a surprisingly muted festival. Anderson`s new film – like every other Wes Anderson film before it – is mannered in the extreme.
The self-conscious camera work, deadpan performance style, random use of music (everything from Hank Williams to Benjamin Britten) and bizarre colour scheme are just what we expect from the director of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Early on, the film seems grating and whimsical. But slowly we begin to care about Anderson`s typically oddball protagonists. By the final reel, the film is surprisingly moving.
The setting is a little island in New England that is full of Boy Scouts. It`s 1965. Bespectacled Sammy Shakusky (Jared Gilman), has gone Awol. His colleagues are determined to get him back. They`re little fascists in khaki (or "beige lunatics" as Bill Murray calls them) and they don`t care at all for Sammy. Nor do his foster parents. The only person who roots for the truculent and lonely boy is Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), daughter of a pair of unhappily married islanders (played by Murray and Frances McDormand).
Anderson, who co-scripted with Roman Coppola, throws in Last of the Mohicans-style sequences showing Sammy in the wilds. He`s adept with his knife and knows how to maneuver a canoe. Eventually, Sammy and Suzy elope. At times, the characters here behave in as expressionless a way as the animated protagonists of his last feature, Fantastic Mr Fox. However, Anderson depicts the burgeoning romance between Sammy and Suzy with delicacy and humor. The performances from the adults also gradually begin to register more strongly. Bruce Willis brings pathos and an unlikely dignity to his role as the harassed town sheriff. Tilda Swinton is the woman from the social services who thinks the best thing for Sammy is a bit of shock treatment. As the film progresses, Anderson adds vigour to the storytelling, throwing in spirited fights and chase sequences.