Tale of Love and Protest The main thing I want to say about this film is that it is surprisingly beautifully shot, and it feels from the first frames. Like a puppet, the house in which the heroine of the film Susie and her relatives live, appearing at the beginning, sets the mood for the whole film.
In aesthetics, the film reminded Burton’s Big Fish – the same fabulous atmosphere, although in the Kingdom of the Full Moon, in general, there is no fiction. Although, looking ahead, the plot of this film can not be called very realistic either. What is this?
This is a story about children, but for adults. The director shows adult viewers their world as children who still believe in a fairy tale see it. Children’s perception and vision of the world is opposed here to the adult – and not in favor of the latter. Teenagers or bastards, or heroes - sincerely love, sincerely hate, sincerely repent. Adults scream without hearing themselves, hide behind fictional pretexts and motives. The guardianship officer passes off her sadism as a sense of duty. Susie's parents, despite her confession, continue to claim that the attacker was cut not by her, but by Sam. Susie's mother cheats on her husband for years with the local sheriff, but does not find the strength to take a decisive step. This web of conventions prevents adults from seeing the essence of things, to go beyond stereotypes.
Another thing is scouts. First they accept the rules of the game - the fugitive Sam, who betrayed their brotherhood, must be found and punished. In this they show a frightening determination, even really arm themselves. But, realizing that they stood in the way of real feelings and truly brave people, they begin to help them. In this they are different from Susie’s parents and the law representatives – their eyes are open and they see real life. They don’t read about it in the newspaper.
It would seem that it could be easier not to interfere. It seemed that it could be purer than love. But no other feeling meets more obstacles in human society. Wish you anything—money, power, revenge, any pleasure—society is at your service. If you love each other, there is a wall of misunderstanding at every turn. Because, in the end, society is a blind element, like the storm in the climactic scene of the film. Until people see life as it is, they will remain blind servants of the storm.
While writing the review, I realized what the film has in common with “Big fish”, not the picture – the romance of the pioneers. Susie and Sam go to an uninhabited part of the island, looking for a new land on which to find a place for them. They have the same will to conquer space, to search for a new world, where they may one day establish a new race free of madness. This instinct drives them away from the adult world.
Of course, the ending may seem sweet to someone... But what would this story be like if it didn’t end like this? This is a story, and stories exist to remind people how things should be.
A great story about teenage love.
9 out of 10
Original