You Got to Have Friends

Ever since I wrote The Funny Parts, I have remained fascinated with the free manner in which creative works are often recycled.  Lewis Gilbert's 1971 teen romance film Friends has more than a little in common with Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom.  A neglected boy (Sean Bury) runs away with an orphaned girl (Anicée Alvina).  The couple escape together into the wilderness in the hope of creating a life away from the unhappy adult world they inhabit.  As soon as they get settled, the boy and girl strip down to their underwear and experience a sexual awakening.  Eventually, they become separated by police responding to a missing persons report. 

 Friends (1971)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Of course, Anderson brought his own unique style to the project.  He invested the story with his patented brand of quirky, deadpan humor and made use of fantastical fairy tale imagery to convey the couple's adventures from a child's perspective.