Moonrise Kingdom Themes

Moonrise Kingdom, directed by Wes Anderson, is a film that uncovers a heartwarming tale about young love, and investigates what it means to fit in. The film follows a pair of lovestruck children, creating a whimsical and young atmosphere full of innocence. This innocence is portrayed throughout the film, especially when one of the main protagonists states, “We’re in love. We just want to be together. What’s wrong with that.” This theme is supported greatly by using original scoring and popular music. Techniques alike to these can be derived from classic films such as George Lucas’s Star Wars films. Although his films utilize wall-to-wall scoring, this film uses original scoring to achieve similar effects. Also, by utilizing small orchestra

Although the music and film industry use popular music to try to tantalize a younger crowd, Moonrise Kingdom, uses popular music to interest an older audience that is sentimental about the past. The music of Moonrise Kingdom creates an innocent and childlike atmosphere filled with action, leitmotifs and irony.

The focus of this film is on children; adults can be described as the antagonists. Similar to the film, To Kill a Mockingbird, Wes Anderson uses music that portrays the innocence of young love. He accomplishes this by using songs such as, “Bernstein’s Favorites: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” We initially hear this score in the intro credits, as the camera pans through the home of one of the protagonists, Suzy, and source music begins to play. The song starts with a full orchestra, then it divides into different musical families, as a child narrates the families. The orchestral theme leads to a climax with a drum roll, during which Suzy reads a letter, and looks straight up and into the camera. Although in the scene there is little happening, the audience understands the depth of the letter without actually seeing the contents due to the intensity of the music. This same piece

Firstly, this film uses old popular music to establish the setting, Just like in Casablanca, which utilized songs as leitmotifs, songs by Hank Williams play whenever the Police Captain Sharp appears. In addition to establishing the setting, popular music in this film is used to symbolize maturity. Whenever the kids in this film show any trace of adulthood, a popular song supports this development. This is displayed when Sam is shown using his camp skills to survive in the wilderness. “Kawliga,” a folk-like song with underlying Native American sounding beats, plays lightly in the background. Popular country songs by Hank Williams contrast the orchestral and choir pieces that play throughout the film. This contrast helps audiences relate to the loneliness depicted within Captain Sharp. The song “Ramblin Man,” plays as source music when Captain Sharp speaks to Sam about adult issues. This piece contains only a guitar, fiddle, and a single vocalist to create a somber tone that communicates the love lost by both Sam and the policeman. Likewise, this song is played as the plot nears the suggestive adultery scenes between Captain Sharp and Suzy’s mother, Mrs. Bishop. This is why the country, “honky tonk,” contrasts so greatly with the purity in the other songs used for the kids in this film. “Cold, cold Heart” plays as Mrs. Bishop cuts off