Moonrise Kingdom

This week I went to see Moonrise Kingdom for the second time.
I'm going to talk about two things that I felt more strongly seeing the movie again -that made me think about what kind of world was created, whose world is it -whose perceptions frame it?

A camera work element that reinforced the feeling of a child's world(or a twelve year-old's world) or that it is a constructed world (with a system of rules and a power dynamic where the parents form the household and the children have to either work within their domain or escape it) was the introductory sequence of tightly composed panning shots of Suzie's house. For many shots the only people seen are Suzie and her three younger brothers occupying the spaces without their parents. Because of the panning, the space feels wider, and due to compositional choices interior images were shortened (not views of entire floor to ceiling). This series of shots makes the house look much more like a set than a house. The use of saturated primary colors and New England beach house style made the space in this sequence feel like a doll house -pristine and miniature. I think this effect works in terms of the film's narrative and what we learn about the two runaways -not fitting in at home or at camp and escaping to find a space of their own.

Another example of film technique helping to shape a unique world of the characters is shots framed by the black silhouette of Suzie's binoculars throughout the film. A little bit into the film we learn that Suzie carries her binoculars with her everywhere. When she wears them she feels that she possesses a magic power -another form of escape from home and school. This use of the binoculars to literally shape a shot aligns with my ideas about whose point of view the film expresses. At least partially, the film shows Suzie's way of seeing the world.

The richness and uniqueness of the movie's mise en scene, for example the simplified, sculpted Social Services' hair and clothing, make more sense if considered as a configuration of Suzie or Sam's individual perceptions and experiences.