Moonrise Kingdom [Original Soundtrack]

Liner Note Author: Wes Anderson .
By the time of Moonrise Kingdom's release, the soundtracks to Wes Anderson films had become not exactly predictable, but certainly familiar to his fans: some British Invasion deep cuts here, some intricate, chamber pop-inspired score music there. Yet Anderson and his musical collaborators had already begun changing things up with the soundtrack to The Fantastic Mr. Fox, a trend that continues here. This may be the most typically filmic music for an Anderson movie yet, which, paradoxically, is Moonrise Kingdom's biggest surprise. Nearly all of the music is classical, and much of the soundtrack comes from Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, as conducted and performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. It's a particularly fitting choice, since most of the film's story focuses on the romance between 12 year olds Sam and Suzy during the summer of 1965; while Britten's music is aimed at children, it never condescends. Pieces from other Britten works, including Noye's Fludde and Songs from Friday Afternoons, maintain this sense of childlike -- not childish -- wonder throughout. Elsewhere, Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man" and "Kaw-Liga" add the necessary rough 'n' tumble edges to the fugitive lovers' adventures, and Françoise Hardy's "Le Temps de l'Amour" adds just a touch of the director's usual Francophilia. Anderson's longtime composers Mark Mothersbaugh and Alexandre Desplat also get in on the act, with Mothersbaugh contributing the "Camp Ivanhoe Cadence Medley" and Desplat offering the ambitious "The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe," a seven-part suite that goes from gentle to raging and back again. While Moonrise Kingdom's choices set it apart from other Anderson films, its effortless flow, appropriateness, and vivid beauty make it another fine musical companion to his work. ~ Heather Phares