A masterpiece in everyway, but don't expect a child's tale.
Where The Wild Things Are
starring Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose
directed by Spike Jonze
Maurice Sendak’s children’s book Where The Wild Things Are is a kind of corner stone for kid’s reading; I know that as a child I loved the book, and wanted it read to me over and over again. I felt that same giddy excitement when I heard that a film was going to be made. Childhood nostalgia welled up in me, and I was looking forward to being taken back more than a few years to a simpler time. And hats off to both Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers for taking a less than three hundred word book and crafting an extraordinary vision of a classic tale; however,the outcome was far from nostaglic.
Max (Records) is a lonely, young boy. He’s got his older sister who ignores him, and an over worked Mom (Keener) that has little time for boyish nonsense. She is, after all, trying to hold a job down, take care of two kids, and rediscover a love life. Max’s dad is nowhere to be found. Max, in his fuzzy wolf’s outfit, begins to act out again and again, and eventually his mother has enough. She tries to discipline Max, they have a small scuffle that ends in Max biting her, and he runs away when he realizes just what he’s done. Only, the backyards of the dark night around him shift shape, and he comes to an ocean and a boat. The boat takes him to a far off island, where he meets the Wild Things. They’re basically a makeshift family of various monster types with the minds of children the age of Max. Max proves himself, and Carol (Gandolfini) declares him king. He is supposed to fix the bad things and make loneliness and sadness go away. He does a great job at first, but as it turns out, the Wild Things have much more in common with the real world and Max’s heartache than he could have ever imagined.
First off, I want to profusely express my gratitude to Mr. Jonze for opting to let the Jim Henson Muppet Shop make the Wild Things. The movie would not have been the same if it had been all animation, or even if the creatures had been all CGI. The Muppet suits gave them a gritty, touchable, and real quality that could not have been achieved any other way. In a decade of computer animated Yoda’s, Spike and the Jim Henson company remind us why sometimes computers can take away just as much as they can give. On the other hand though, the computer animated faces of the Wild Things was seemless. The emotions were based off of the actors emotions and facial expressions, and it was just a wonder to behold. Bravo, all around to the special effects department.
Now for the story. The book was a simple story of a kid’s imagination, and the trailers to the film led you to believe the film would hold much of the same purpose and feel. Not so. Spike Jonze crafted something that is far darker than what I ever imagined to see, and dug far deeper than I really expected to feel. The film, though it indeed has its lighter and funner moments, deals with the built up rage and fear of a young child that doesn’t understand what’s going on in the real world around him. The only mention of Max’s father in the film is a globe he has given Max, engraved simply with “To Max: This World Is Yours.” But sadly, its the only world in which he knows his father because he has left the family. His mother is busy working, and courting another man. Max’s sister is getting older and more interested in hanging out with her friends. Max is extremely isolated, and because he is so young, can only slightly comprehend the situation the world has put him in. He acts out with bad behavior in more confusion than being plain mean. He acts out because he doesn’t know what else to do. He acts out because he is lonely and scared. And It leads to him running away into his imagination.
And what does he find on the island of the Wild Things? Creatures that mirror what is happening in the real world, back in Max’s home life. Separated mates, the small one who is often left out, and acting out in the form of destruction. They’re scared too of what will happen to them all, and as Alexander (Dano) says at one point, “Its hard to be a family.” And if you had to take something from the wealth of unspoken rage and emotion from this movie, its that. Its hard to be family, but family is where we belong. Even little kids get frustrated and fear the unknown and take it out on those they love. Its something we’ve all felt at that age.
From the get go, Where The Wild Things Are grips you and takes you back to your childhood; a place of fairy tale and make believe. It reminds you what its like to be a kid, and how even when things were simpler, they really aren’t that simple. Jonze succeeds in showing us, you know, that something that we lost when we became adolescents. He found the best way to remind us, and he really didn’t have to say it outloud. If you leave the film not feeling something, you don’t have a heart.
Spike Jonze has his masterpiece. However, this is not at all a kid’s movie, and I believe it was a mistake to advertise it as one. I wouldn’t take my kids to see it; I think they’d miss just what its all about. And that is the importance and the beauty of the film; it reminds us of what we forgot, and it reminds us what family is, and just what family means. Please, reader, go see it. You need to see it. But expect something profound, not light hearted. It is something truly beautiful, but equally dark and brooding. Don’t be caught off guard like I was. I say all this because I agonized over the rating. It was portrayed in a much different way than what was actually shot, but I truly believe Spike Jonze will never in a million years make something as good and meaningful as this again. So I feel I must give the man his due. He left his soul on the table with this project.
Let The Wild Rumpus Start!
A masterpiece in everyway, but don't expect a child's tale.
Where The Wild Things Are
starring Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose
directed by Spike Jonze
Maurice Sendak’s children’s book Where The Wild Things Are is a kind of corner stone for kid’s reading; I know that as a child I loved the book, and wanted it read to me over and over again. I felt that same giddy excitement when I heard that a film was going to be made. Childhood nostalgia welled up in me, and I was looking forward to being taken back more than a few years to a simpler time. And hats off to both Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers for taking a less than three hundred word book and crafting an extraordinary vision of a classic tale; however,the outcome was far from nostaglic.
Max (Records) is a lonely, young boy. He’s got his older sister who ignores him, and an over worked Mom (Keener) that has little time for boyish nonsense. She is, after all, trying to hold a job down, take care of two kids, and rediscover a love life. Max’s dad is nowhere to be found. Max, in his fuzzy wolf’s outfit, begins to act out again and again, and eventually his mother has enough. She tries to discipline Max, they have a small scuffle that ends in Max biting her, and he runs away when he realizes just what he’s done. Only, the backyards of the dark night around him shift shape, and he comes to an ocean and a boat. The boat takes him to a far off island, where he meets the Wild Things. They’re basically a makeshift family of various monster types with the minds of children the age of Max. Max proves himself, and Carol (Gandolfini) declares him king. He is supposed to fix the bad things and make loneliness and sadness go away. He does a great job at first, but as it turns out, the Wild Things have much more in common with the real world and Max’s heartache than he could have ever imagined.
Now for the story. The book was a simple story of a kid’s imagination, and the trailers to the film led you to believe the film would hold much of the same purpose and feel. Not so. Spike Jonze crafted something that is far darker than what I ever imagined to see, and dug far deeper than I really expected to feel. The film, though it indeed has its lighter and funner moments, deals with the built up rage and fear of a young child that doesn’t understand what’s going on in the real world around him. The only mention of Max’s father in the film is a globe he has given Max, engraved simply with “To Max: This World Is Yours.” But sadly, its the only world in which he knows his father because he has left the family. His mother is busy working, and courting another man. Max’s sister is getting older and more interested in hanging out with her friends. Max is extremely isolated, and because he is so young, can only slightly comprehend the situation the world has put him in. He acts out with bad behavior in more confusion than being plain mean. He acts out because he doesn’t know what else to do. He acts out because he is lonely and scared. And It leads to him running away into his imagination.
And what does he find on the island of the Wild Things? Creatures that mirror what is happening in the real world, back in Max’s home life. Separated mates, the small one who is often left out, and acting out in the form of destruction. They’re scared too of what will happen to them all, and as Alexander (Dano) says at one point, “Its hard to be a family.” And if you had to take something from the wealth of unspoken rage and emotion from this movie, its that. Its hard to be family, but family is where we belong. Even little kids get frustrated and fear the unknown and take it out on those they love. Its something we’ve all felt at that age.
Spike Jonze has his masterpiece. However, this is not at all a kid’s movie, and I believe it was a mistake to advertise it as one. I wouldn’t take my kids to see it; I think they’d miss just what its all about. And that is the importance and the beauty of the film; it reminds us of what we forgot, and it reminds us what family is, and just what family means. Please, reader, go see it. You need to see it. But expect something profound, not light hearted. It is something truly beautiful, but equally dark and brooding. Don’t be caught off guard like I was. I say all this because I agonized over the rating. It was portrayed in a much different way than what was actually shot, but I truly believe Spike Jonze will never in a million years make something as good and meaningful as this again. So I feel I must give the man his due. He left his soul on the table with this project.