Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, 2011Armature: Freedom is necessary for growing up. Or, dreaming big makes life better. Or, life needs freedom.
To be honest, I'm not completely sure what the armature of this film is. It moves me, so I know it's saying something important. I think it has something to do with freedom and youth because the primary conflict is between the two children Sam and Suzy, who are both kind of depressed and trapped in a boring life on a tiny island, and the adults of the island who all live boring lives on a tiny island and want to control them. Sam and Suzy try to run away several times and dream of bigger things, like magic powers or leaving the island. Then there's also the big symbol: Moonrise Kingdom is the small cove where Sam and Suzy escape for a short time, and get to be themselves and do whatever they want. This area represents freedom from their boring lives and controlling parents (or, in Sam's case, his unfriendly Scout mates).
The other characters also express discomfort with their lives and a desire for something better. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, Suzy's parents, are in an unhappy marriage. Mrs. Bishop is having an affair. She also lets it slip once that she doesn't know how she ended up here. Scout Master Ward desperately wants to be a good leader for his scouts, but when they all start running away to help Sam and Suzy he doesn't know what to do with himself. Being a Scout Master is the only thing he has. Which, when you think about it, is pretty hollow.
The visual style of the film (which is not present in the screenplay, but I remember it from seeing the movie a year ago) also reinforces the idea that everyone's lives are boring. The composition of every shot is symmetrical and even. Monotonous, perhaps. The colors are a bit desaturated and bland.
What makes me unsure is the ending. Sam and Suzy stop running away when Sam is taken in by Captain Sharp, the local sheriff. The final scene shows Sam sneaking away from Suzy's house (implying that her parents don't know he's there) and back to Captain Sharp, who's waiting to take him home. This seems to mean that the two are now okay with their situations. Suzy is okay with living with her parents as long as Sam gets to secretly visit, and Sam is okay with the sympathetic and helpful Captain Sharp.
Maybe this means that what they really needed was to be loved? Suzy's parents don't really come off as loving, and Sam's previous foster parents certainly weren't. The two escape to Moonrise Kingdom where they can freely love each other, and then even "get married" later. The final part of the climax even has Captain Sharp holding on top Sam and Suzy as they hang above the rushing flood, and he says "Don't let go." This definitely symbolizes how he's reaching out to them now.
Hmm. Perhaps the armature is a combination of the two ideas. It could have something to do with both freedom and the desire to be loved.
In any case, here are the seven steps. Luckily, the plot of this film is pretty simple.
1. Once upon a time on the small island of New Penzance, an orphan boy named Sam lived in a scout camp, and a girl named Suzy lived in a house with many siblings. They met at a church play.
2. And every day the two sent letters to each other and grew close from talking about their various difficult life problems.
3. Until one day, Sam and Suzy met up and ran away together.
4. Because of this they were found and caught by the Scout Master, Captain Sharp, and Suzy's parents.
5. Because of this Sam and Suzy tried to run away again with the help of the Khaki Scouts, but get stopped by a large storm.
6. Until finally Captain Sharp willingly takes Sam into his custody just before the two can jump into a rushing flood to escape from being caught.
7. And ever since that day Sam has been able to visit Suzy in secret, with Captain Sharp helping him.
The thing I appreciate a lot about this movie is something I learned from reading the book "On Directing Film" by David Mamet. In this book, Mamet talks about visual storytelling being the juxtaposition of images in sequence. The audience learns what is happening by seeing several images in a row, not by things being explained. Mamet teaches how to be simple and precise in each shot to tell a good story.
Brian McDonald also talks about (in "Invisible Ink," if I remember correctly?) how the audience is smart. You don't need to reveal all the information right at once. Just tell them what they need to know when it's necessary.
What this movie does really, really well is both of those things. It tells you more information as the movie goes on, instead of overloading exposition right at the beginning. The audience is smart and can piece things together slowly. Only enough information is given to get the point across, nothing more. For instance, the story is about Sam and Suzy trying to escape their boring lives, but we don't even see either of them for awhile, or understand why they try to run away until even later. But that's okay. We are told enough. We are never left wondering "why" because we know enough.
Lessons learned from Moonrise Kingdom:
1. The screenplay must be good, but just a screenplay is not enough to make a movie.
2. Reveal information to the audience slowly.
3. But tell them enough to let them understand.
4. Embrace the ridiculous if it's effective for your story. Ex: making everything feel like a storybook, treating a marriage between children as serious business, etc.
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