Where the wild things are is a fanciful tale confronting the insecurities of both parents and children in way that is both confrontational and introspective. Immediately after watching the movie I feared that the narrative was to mature for a ten year old to grasp, but knowing that the visuals would provide a story that children would long remember and identify with almost immediately. After digesting the film for a while I now believe that Spike Jonze hit the nail on the head. Without providing a synopsis, I wanted to point out that the screen adaptation differs from the book a great deal. While the book has fewer than ten written lines of text, the film has much a more robust story line.
The original book allowed a great deal of imagination which was great for reading with your children, allowing them to explore the illustration and to think creatively to craft an entire world to better understand Max’s world. The film is much more explicit in defining Max’s frustration with the world’s inability to understand his experience and his world. Max is a self pronounced explorer who experiences the world through his imagination and attempts to address others from his perspective. Unfortunately this seems to backfire and those around him define Max as disruptive and at times destructive. Max has as brief moment of introspection after storming his sisters room, however following this moment of self reflection Max ignores his insight and continues pursing his own desires and the inclinations of his imagination.
After a catastrophic interaction with this mother where he attempts to garner her attention over that of her boyfriend, Max rejects the world around him and runs from his problems, ultimately shunning the confines of our world to escape to a world which better conforms to his experiences. It becomes clear as Max arrives at this new place Where the Wild Things Are that he must take control and responsibility for his actions, and he is immediately presented with an important decision where must choose how he will interact with a world that he does not understand. Shortly thereafter he becomes aware of the consequences of his decision and must again find a creative way to reconstruct his image. What at the time appears to be a great decision where Max lies, and makes it clear that he is a person of great power and authority soon becomes a nightmare where Max again must confront the fallout from his actions and decisions. He again takes this moment to reflect and finally comes to terms with a better understanding of how his actions affect those around him. Along his journey he forms a conditional friendship with Carol the giant who he soon learns is also misunderstood and similar to himself does not grasp the implications of his actions. Carol serves as a mirror for Max, finally allowing Max to see how his construct of a world or place better than his own can shroud your perception of the reality he is confronted with. The idealism of a utopia where problems do not exist and there is no sadness offers a great juxtaposition to the stark reality where real problems do exist and where you must take responsibility for your actions.
When Max arrives at the decision to leave this world Where the Wild Things Are and travel home, the maturation he has experienced is again mirrored in Carol’s character as he now fully grasps that not all things are perfect, but that you can have a great effect either positive or negative on those around you, and that you must be in the present and not lost in some alternate reality. This is a great film intended for all ages. A film full of imagination, best intentions and lessons learned. Spike Jonze directed another wonderful film. Similar to Being John Malkovich we are lost in some other possible reality that is beyond our grasp, an alternate reality that we fashion as an escape from the world in which we live. I think that both adults and children of all ages can walk away from this film with a better understanding of the effect of their actions on those around them, and how to better cope with the realities of this world. I think this may be one of the more creative and perhaps best adaptations I have seen of children’s story in some time. Absolutely recommended.
The original book allowed a great deal of imagination which was great for reading with your children, allowing them to explore the illustration and to think creatively to craft an entire world to better understand Max’s world. The film is much more explicit in defining Max’s frustration with the world’s inability to understand his experience and his world. Max is a self pronounced explorer who experiences the world through his imagination and attempts to address others from his perspective. Unfortunately this seems to backfire and those around him define Max as disruptive and at times destructive. Max has as brief moment of introspection after storming his sisters room, however following this moment of self reflection Max ignores his insight and continues pursing his own desires and the inclinations of his imagination.
After a catastrophic interaction with this mother where he attempts to garner her attention over that of her boyfriend, Max rejects the world around him and runs from his problems, ultimately shunning the confines of our world to escape to a world which better conforms to his experiences. It becomes clear as Max arrives at this new place Where the Wild Things Are that he must take control and responsibility for his actions, and he is immediately presented with an important decision where must choose how he will interact with a world that he does not understand. Shortly thereafter he becomes aware of the consequences of his decision and must again find a creative way to reconstruct his image. What at the time appears to be a great decision where Max lies, and makes it clear that he is a person of great power and authority soon becomes a nightmare where Max again must confront the fallout from his actions and decisions. He again takes this moment to reflect and finally comes to terms with a better understanding of how his actions affect those around him. Along his journey he forms a conditional friendship with Carol the giant who he soon learns is also misunderstood and similar to himself does not grasp the implications of his actions. Carol serves as a mirror for Max, finally allowing Max to see how his construct of a world or place better than his own can shroud your perception of the reality he is confronted with. The idealism of a utopia where problems do not exist and there is no sadness offers a great juxtaposition to the stark reality where real problems do exist and where you must take responsibility for your actions.
When Max arrives at the decision to leave this world Where the Wild Things Are and travel home, the maturation he has experienced is again mirrored in Carol’s character as he now fully grasps that not all things are perfect, but that you can have a great effect either positive or negative on those around you, and that you must be in the present and not lost in some alternate reality. This is a great film intended for all ages. A film full of imagination, best intentions and lessons learned. Spike Jonze directed another wonderful film. Similar to Being John Malkovich we are lost in some other possible reality that is beyond our grasp, an alternate reality that we fashion as an escape from the world in which we live. I think that both adults and children of all ages can walk away from this film with a better understanding of the effect of their actions on those around them, and how to better cope with the realities of this world. I think this may be one of the more creative and perhaps best adaptations I have seen of children’s story in some time. Absolutely recommended.
