Wes Anderson Moonrise Kingdom Essay

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Well known for his distinctive visual and narrative style, Wes Anderson used his directing qualities to construct Moonrise Kingdom – a whimsical take on a typical romantic comedy. This film tells the story of two misfit children, Sam and Suzy, who want so very desperately to be together but no one else seems to understand. The two pen pals make a plan to run away together which entails using Sam’s wilderness and survival skills to help them live off the land of New Penzance. None of their actions were approved by their families nor other people living in the community. While we follow their journey, we simultaneously witness the elements of mise-en-scène being strategically utilized by Anderson to drive the plot and thematic messages forward. Throughout the film, we see a recurring usage of straight lines and symmetrical order being used to represent the social norm for the time period. This normalness is also shown through the weather conditions on the island and surrounding areas. The deeper we dive into the characters’ journey the more we see …show more content…

Once they re-escaped to be together again, against everyone else’s wishes, the scenes changed in the same way after the first escape. At one point, we see Sam running away from the scouts chasing him through the woods. It is important to notice how angrily everyone else acted as a result of Sam and Suzy’s out-of-the-ordinary behavior. Once Sam runs into Lightning Field, he holds up the rod to be struck so the others would stop chasing him. As he does this, the camera is centered on him, but the rocks he is standing on are very asymmetrical. Also, he raises one hand and not the other which adds another form of asymmetry to the scene. This course of events is very symbolic of society acting out in an almost violent way to an individual doing what is not commonly acceptable or socially

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