Where the Wild Things are dir. by

3 January 2010


Genre: ,
Script: ,
Cast: , , , , , , , ,

based on the book by Maurice Sendak
I was never exposed to this book as a kid so didn’t have that “cool, but I hope they don’t wreck it” sort of expectation that some had when they first heard this was going to be adapted into a film. The book itself is a picture book, only a couple of hundred words[1] so there isn’t a huge amount of plot for the film to use.

where wild things are

where wild things are

I have to say that I don’t think the film is quite as good as it thinks it is, but there are a lot of scenes that are pretty much perfect. And Max ss perfectly cast (or directed). You’ll easily be able to understand his confusion and neediness. The film perfectly describes that moment after you’ve lost your temper and done something you really wish you hadn’t. It doesn’t matter that you are sorry, or even that the other person forgives you, you recognise that what you did was wrong and hurt someone, but there isn’t anything you can do to take it back. It is done.

But it also delights in the pure anarchy of childhood. The joy of totally living in the present.

Of course Max the character is growing older, he is around 9 or 10 in the film I think, so he beginning to really realise that there are consequences to his actions. Yet he still can’t quite control himself enough.

As for the look of the film! That’s just great. The Wild Things look brilliantly. Real and scary enough, but also full of joy and, well, wildness.

I’m not quite convinced it is childs film though. I just don’t know if it will appeal to most. Or maybe I’m underestimating them?

IMDb ; Wikipedia ; Metacritic ; Terrible Yellow Eyes (art inspired by the book) ; Dark Matters ; Ruthless Culture ; Salient Technorati links; if you’ve reviewed the film don’t forget to leave a comment letting me know & I’ll see about adding the link.

Linknotes:

  1. although the book of the film is much much longer

You may also like...