Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are focuses on the incredible adventure of a mischievous and inventive young boy named Max. After an upsetting incident with his mother, Max journeys through his limitless imagination to an exotic land where he encounters the Wild Things. More than just strange and fantastic creatures, the Wild Things represent individual facets of Max’s tumultuous emotional state. The interactions between Max and the Wild Things fuel a storyline that delivers an enthralling tale about a lonely boy’s remarkable imagination.

In WtWTA, director Spike Jonze depicts the purest moments of childhood. These are moments of unadulterated emotion. These are moments of innocent immaturity. These are moments when the boundless creativity of youth triumphs. For the entire duration of the film, Jonze brings us back to a time when we lived in those moments. With perfect casting, brilliant cinematography, wonderful art direction and engaging writing, Jonze delivers one of the decade’s most touching films.

Max Records performs his role flawlessly. He expresses every one of his character’s emotions with remarkable sincerity. Without a doubt, his is one of the finest performances by a young actor that I have witnessed on screen. Additionally, the Wild Things themselves are astonishing. The costumes and the design of these creatures distinguish WtWTA from most other films. Great performances from the actors behind the costumes enhance the unique appearance of the Wild Things. Through their mannerisms and their dialogue, they illustrate perfectly the turmoil inside Max’s mind. The relationship between Max’s life and the Wild Things is not subtle. In fact, its simplicity is wondrous and genuine.

Critics contend that sadness and anger dominate the tone of this film. In my mind, WtWTA genuinely presents the intensity of childhood emotion, and just as importantly, its evanescence. When characterizing Max, the director did not follow the Hollywood trend of infusing the young protagonist with wisdom and maturity beyond his years. Instead, Max represents the kid that we all were at his age: an immature child filled with uncontrollable feelings. In WtWTA, Max exhibits every emotion that typical nine year olds experience. Joy, anger, impatience, wonder, disappointment, excitement, remorse, dejection, confusion, fear, curiosity… Max undergoes a range of emotions that might overwhelm an adult. In one particular scene, Max transitions from pure elation to heartbreaking sadness to unrestrained rage to intense regret. It is a memorable scene that will have many of us remembering our childhood frustrations.

I cannot say whether most children will like or dislike WtWTA. I know that I would have loved this film in my younger days. Perhaps kids nowadays will be numb to the kind of emotion that film exhibits for it to have any impact. Perhaps kids will find Max’s imagination dreary compared to the fast-paced, animated wonders created by Pixar. Perhaps. However, just as Maurice Sendak’s original ten sentence story has delighted children over the past half century, I know that, at the very least, WtWTA will enchant those children who recognize the wonders of an immeasurable imagination.

Before you see this movie, I suggest you keep a couple of things in mind. To enjoy this film, you need to watch it without wanting to analyze the content. To relate to this film, you need to truly remember how you understood the real world and how you imagined your own world when you were nine years old. If you can, then you will walk out of the theatre having watched a magnificent film and having experienced something truly meaningful.

Robbie

~ by rhalonen on October 25, 2009.