Where The Wild Things Are

The story. Max is a disobedient, rebellious boy who is clearly unhappy with being a kid. He yearns for the attention of his older sister, and mother, but it seems as if no one understands him. After throwing a tantrum in front of his mother, he runs away into the night and finds himself sailing away into the unknown abyss of the wild - into the wild of his own imagination, where he meets these strange creatures, the Wild Things. He soon learns that life where the wild things are is not as easy as it seems.

What worked for me was Spike Jonze's ability to create this other world outside of Max's reality where his home and family live, and one so believable that I had completely forgotten the circumstances of how Max ended up where the Wild Things are, and felt like I was right there with him. However, what didn't work for me was the film lacked the ability to absorb me into the experience of it all. Yes, I remember building forts and bedsheet tents; I remember having rubberband fights (my equivalent of snowballs) with my friends - but for some reason, I just couldn't fully experience Max's journey.

Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are is clearly not a film for children. The themes expressed in this film are adult. I feel like one of this film's inner themes is the exploration into a child's self-reflection. With the excellent cinematography direction of Lance Acord (who was also Director of Photography on Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and Lost In Translation, both of which I really love), the barren landscapes and wide expanses of this world in Max's imagination works as the inner depths of Max's mind, with the Wild Things being embodiments of his emotions. There is a sense of loneliness in the environment, lived in by creatures that are not only emotionally unpredictable like how Max is presented to us at the beginning, but physically, they look unhappy. In this world, Max promises to bring happiness to all, but soon realises that his relationships with these wild things are more complicated than it seems. It is in these relationships with the embodiments of himself that he learns.

As a whole, the film does really well as one about what it's like to be a child (so excellently performed by Max Records), and a journey of self-reflection for a boy who clearly has issues with being a kid. I was really taken away by Max Records performance and felt that he did a really ace job at making the part of Max 110% believable, although I didn't feel as connected to his experiences while he was with the Wild Things (this may be my only disappointment with the film). I have to give props to the voices of the Wild Things - James Gandolfini, Chris Cooper, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Lauren Ambrose and Paul Dano. Also, the music written and performed by Karen Orzolek (known on the credits as Karen O and the Kids), lead singer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs was fantastic in capturing what it's like to be a child, and what it's like to be 'a wild thing'.

After seeing this, I plan to see more of Spike Jonze's films as I don't think I've seen any in full. Throughout the screening I felt a resemblance with Michel Gondry's dream-like style, so hopefully there is more to like about Jonze's work.

I rate this 8/10.