Though ten films may be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, there are only nine nominees this year: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty. These films are all excellent (I’m especially partial to Lincoln, Django, and Zero Dark Thirty), but the final space in the list should have been filled, especially because this year saw the release of a series of amazing movies largely overlooked by the Academy, including Magic Mike, The Master, and The Dark Knight Rises (definitely not the best movie Christopher Nolan has ever made, but come on, it’s about time he gets some recognition). However, the Academy’s biggest crime this year is definitely the lack of attention it has given to the Wes Anderson masterpiece, Moonrise Kingdom.
The film is, at its most basic, a love story between two children on an island in New England in 1965. Sam Shakusky, an orphaned member of the local troop of “Khaki Scouts,” runs away with Suzy Bishop, a local girl with anger management problems. As the Khaki Scouts, the local police, and the children’s parents chase them over the island, the weather quickly deteriorates, bringing to light the individual weaknesses and insecurities of the adults.
Anderson has made a name for himself for his quirky stories about social outcasts and their dysfunctional relationships, and Moonrise Kingdom displays many of his trademarks, from the performances of perennial cast members Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman to his use of 1960s rock music, slow motion, breaking of the fourth wall, and dollhouse-like building interiors. Once again, he has created a world dominated by idiosyncrasies, awkwardness, and deadpan humor.
In many ways, Anderson’s films portray the world as a child would imagine it: idyllic and absurd, with bright colors and loud music and adults who are weirder than the kids. He pokes fun at establishment and institutions, and shows that the people in charge are as ridiculously troubled as those who they try to control. However, Moonrise Kingdom is arguably Anderson’s first ever film about young children (though one of his earlier films, Rushmore, took place at a high school), and the youthful style Anderson works into his other films fits best here.
Yet the film still deals with substantive issues—affairs, family crises, and characters’ confrontations with their own shortcomings. At its heart, Moonrise Kingdom is about the struggle to overcome loneliness and helplessness. But it tackles these themes from the perspective of a child, a technique that heightens the power and universality of the film. By the end, we realize that the generational roles have switched: Sam and Suzy serve as role models to their elders, and teach them about love, relationships, and determination.
If we return to the list of Oscar nominees, we see that each of the films deals with very adult problems. Mental illness, terrorism, slavery, the legislative process, poverty, metaphysical puzzles (I’m looking at you, Life of Pi), and war figure heavily in these nine movies, and I’d say that only one—Beasts of the Southern Wild—takes a child’s perspective into account, and even Beasts doesn’t do so in the same manner as Moonrise Kingdom. Wes Anderson has spent the last twenty-plus years crafting a personal style unlike anything else, and though he and screenwriting partner Roman Coppola have been nominated for Best Original Screenplay, his best work yet deserves a place on the Best Picture list.