Where the Wild Things Are

We all know that many great works deal with the courage of children. Maurice Sendak's Max in Where the Wild Things Are is the personification of a couragous young boy. But courage is not limited to Max. Max, played by Max Records, is not an ordinary boy. He is loud, curious, sad, and angry. Bored in science class, he is suddenly struck by the sad realization that nothing, not even the sun, will last forever. Mortality can indeed be frightening. He is about to enter adolescence, his mother is dating, and his sister does not protect him. "Max, go play with your friends," he is told. He has probably been told this frequently, and it's also likely that he doesn't have many friends, other than his potent imagination.

Max is a raconteur, and he takes pleasure in entertaining his mother (Catherine Keaner) with his wonderful stories. But like any son, he seeks frequent attention and adulation, and when he does not receive it, he becomes angry. But instead of going to bed without eating and finding his bedroom turned into a forest, Max bites his mother, who is on a date, and he runs away. There he finds a small boat, and sets sail. He gets lost, until he finds an island, occupied by other wild things. Max must put his wit to good use, because these wild things are about to eat him. Soon, they become impressed. He tells them that he has a "double re-cracker" and that his magical abilities can "keep out all of the sadness." These seven creatures quickly make him their king because they have forgotten how to have fun. Max must live up to these very high expectation, and Carol (James Gandolfini) in particular is impatient with the lack of results, and he becomes angry. The similarities between Carol and Max are obvious.

There's a really interesting interview Bill Moyers conducted with Sendak about his famous book. Moyers explained how Joseph Campbell used Sendak's book to discuss how humans need to conquer their inner demons. Max does this when he tames the wild things with his magic trick. Sendak mentioned that he hadn't thought of it that way, but that it is an interesting thought. At the very least, he mentioned, it's a reminder that often there's a "right way" and a "wrong way" of doing things, and that children sometimes simply don't know any better. "What a monstrous confusion," he said. I think understanding this quote is essential to appreciate this story. There are many things children go through expressed here, from anger to alienation to adventure. Despite being a fantasy film, it often comes across as a rather accurate depiction of a child coming of age.

Director Spike Jonze has wild things in this film that roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth. There is a sense of wonder, adventure, and melancholy he and his team project in the film that perfectly suits the environment originally created by Sendak. And Jonze and his team did not acquiescence to the march towards universal computer-generated imagery. There are actual performers on sets and in costumers, and their faces were digitized only when it became evident that the masks to animate their facial expressions were far too heavy for the actors, so a compromise was made. The forest created here is one of the most beautiful in the history of cinema. And the actors playing the wild things (Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Michael Berry, Jr., and Lauren Ambrose) are a perfect ensemble. Records should have been nominated for an Oscar. Jonze himself deserves much praise; there is a passion for imagination here, both in Max and Jonze.

One would be forgiven for not thinking of this film adaptation as being a kids' movie. One way or the other, children will likely enjoy it. The film was released ten years ago, a year that presented moviegoers with a dilemma of how a children's film is define. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, another movie from 2009, was almost unrecognizable compared to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first film of that franchise. Caroline and Up, two animated films from that year, were more mature than many previous animated films. Where the Wild Things Are is not as unforgettable as those other films, and it is not as essential to culture as the original book is, but it still a unique cinematic experience, for children and adults alike.