Week 29: Where the Wild Things Are
"There were some buildings.
There were these really tall buildings and they could walk.
Then there were some vampires. One of the vampires bit
the tallest building and his fangs broke off-
then all of his other teeth fell out. Then all of the other vampires asked,
"Why are you crying- aren't those just your baby teeth?" And he said
"No, they are my grown up teeth."
And the other vampires knew
that he couldn't be a vampire anymore
So they left him. The end." – Max
Graffiti laden studio logos open to the melodic sound of a young boy humming a song. The Warner Bros. shield has a wonderful set of horns and teeth scribbled across its emblem while the Legendary Pictures logo has a barbaric sword cutting through it with the name MAX scribbled across the bottom. The logos are tongue and cheek- most parents and children in the audience smile. “Cute” they think. The viewer grins and slides down in their chair, becoming mentally prepared for a quaint and heart-warming little film with Muppets. Then the roar comes and the smile is gone.
The camera tumbles and shakes, panning quickly in a raw and disjointed way. We see a boy who we will come to know as Max (Max Records) king of the wild things. In a manner most animalistic, Max throws himself down the stairs chasing after the family dog. Furniture is toppled as he rages into it, roaring and screaming before violently tackling the dog. He thrashes, rages, laughs and screams. The words “WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE” appear scribbled across the screen as the image freezes momentarily in time. Smiles begin disappearing from viewers faces. Director Spike Jonze gets one thing out of the way from the very beginning. This is not the type of film you think it is.
Here is a picture with an uncompromising vision- a fully realized work of art with layer upon layer of complexities that become more interesting upon each viewing. You go into the movie wanting to be entertained and before you know it you are on the verge of crying without quite knowing why. It gets under your skin.
I will spare you the plot details and summary. At this point you have either seen the movie or have read the timeless Maurice Sendak picture book in which it is based. If you have not been exposed to either of these things then I question what the hell you are doing sitting on your ass reading this review when there are clearly better things you could be doing with your time. Sendak’s book is simple and elegant. A child is unruly, argues with his mother, “escapes” to where the wild things are, realizes things weren’t that bad at home, and runs back to mommy. The book is a whopping 388 perfect words long. Screenwriters Dave Eggers and Jonze had the daunting task of turning it into a movie. They could have added a lot of plot developments, new subplots and characters, or even what I like to call saccharine sentimentality. The genius of their work is that they do none of these things. They make a movie about a little boy and the emotions he is going through.
The movie does us a favor by only hinting at Max’s familial back story. He lives with his mother (Catherine Keener- rarely better) and his sister Claire, both of whom he very clearly loves dearly. Max’s dad is out of the picture. There is only one obvious reference to his father in the movie. There is a globe on Max’s desk inscribed “To Max: The owner of this world, love Dad.” While the film never beats us over the head with it, the absence of a father figure plays a central theme throughout the picture. A great movie is rarely about what is on the screen but what lies underneath the surface.
When Max finally has had enough and ventures off into that mysterious land where the wild things are, he soon comes to find himself the king of a very dysfunctional family of creatures. Every single one of the wild things is either Max’s mental representation of his own emotions or his longing for figures he finds missing in his own life. I could go into a laundry list of the creatures names and what they represent, but who am I to tell you what your interpretation of the film should be? I will only say that all of these creatures, in one way or another, are Max.
Max and Carol (James Gandolfini), the leader of the wild things, decide to build a world in which “everything they wanted to happen could happen.” At first, everything is wonderful. Max and the wild things have a wild rumpus. They run through the forest wild, charging and playing, jumping and laughing away. They howl at the sea and sleep together in a big pile. I am not a betting man, but if I were I would put all of my money on the fact that before the divorce it was not uncommon for Max, Claire, Mom and Dad to cuddle together in a big pile either.
It is often said that we are our own worst enemy. As human beings we let our own fears, inadequacies, thoughts of jealousy and resentment, and anger get the best of us. Our fate and success is determined by how well we control ourselves in this world and rarely based on external factors. When we are children we don’t know this. We see what we see and feel what we feel but rarely understand why. We play with each other on the playground until someone gets hurt. I have three small children in my home and trust me, this is true. As Max and Carol create their world, their vision is in the right place, but the constant struggle with other emotions prevent the world from being actualized. In this way, Where the Wild Things Are is a universal picture. We all deal with the same internal struggles minute by minute, even if we are afraid to admit it.
There is circularity in the events that happen over the course of the movie. Max has a snowball fight in with teenagers at the beginning of the film until he gets hurt and cries. This is demonstrated later in dirt clod fight that is fun until Max plays too rough. Max throws a fit and in anger destroys something he created for his sister and her room, while later Carol (who, in my opinion, is symbolic of Max’s raw emotion) destroys the world they helped create also in anger and jealousy. Max feels thoughts of abandonment by his sister for no longer playing with him and his mother having the nerve to attempt a relationship with another man, just like the character of KW (Lauren Ambrose) abandons the world of the wild things for two pigeons named Bob and Terry. It appears that the pigeons can’t speak to Max- but I feel it is more that Max doesn’t want to here them. In the end the entire picture is about coping in this world and controlling the wildness of your emotions.
Where the Wild Things Are is a polarizing film. I was surprised during its initial release with how controversial it was in many circles. While many viewers declared the movie a masterpiece others found it to be dull eventless and boring. Some went as far as to question whether the film was appropriate for children due to its melancholy nature. It is true, not much happens in Where the Wild Things Are. There is not much of a plot in the conventional sense and nothing much is really resolved. That doesn’t make it a bad film. A movie like this isn’t about what happens on the screen but how the movie makes you feel. It is an emotional experience, not a narrative one. I suspect many of the people that didn’t like the movie may not have liked the way it made them feel. There were many reports of the movie causing adults to cry in the theater. A lot of people don’t like going into a movie expecting one thing and getting another. This is not an easy entertainment, but a film that in many ways acts as a therapy session.
I took my daughter to see the movie on opening weekend. She liked it enough. She thought that the wild things were cool and sort of cute. She laughed in parts and was sad at the end of the movie when Max has to sail away from the island where the wild things are. Since the initial viewing my daughter and I went through a divorce, and it has been difficult on her. She now watches the movie with a fresh set of eyes and understands parts of the movie better than I ever will. This is a movie about the experiences and emotions of childhood, not a children’s movie.
Anytime I think about Where the Wild Things Are, I think of the same scene. Here is a movie with an absolutely perfect ending. Max has grown emotionally and has come to grips with his place in the world. He nervously opens the door to his home and his mother grabs him within seconds of his face appearing from the entrance. No words are spoken between them as they embrace. Max eats dinner. His food is still hot. His mother looks at him lovingly, her date is nowhere to be found- Max’s mother sacrifices her own happiness for that evening to be with her son. Many people say that true love is sacrifice- any parent knows this to be true. Max eats and looks at his mother with a newfound sense of wisdom and compassion as she falls asleep at the table. There is no real escapism. Flightless fantasies may occur, but even in dreams we must deal with our realities.
Review and Analysis by Shaun Henisey
Cast and Credits:
Max: Max Records:
Mom: Catherine Keener:
Carol: James Gandolfini
Judith: Catherine O'Hara
KW: Lauren Ambrose
Warner Bros. Pictures presents A Spike Jonze Film. Written by Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze.
Based on the book by Maurice Sendak. Cinematography by Lance Accord.
Running Time: 101 minutes. Rated PG: For mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.
Return Tuesday, October 25th to review next week's film.