The Boy came home today after two weeks in Hawai'i for work. We did some chores around DC (turned in my five-year-old iPod for a 10% recycling discount on a new one for the Boy) then headed home, where we shared a lobster dinner at Joe's Crab Shack (so delicious and so expensive, in more ways than one...). Our treat was a 10PM showing of "Where The Wild Things Are."
I remember this book from my childhood, as should everyone else, and when I first saw the preview for it, my memory instantly took me back to being eight-years-old, curled up in my bed, eyes round with the thought of a jungle full of giant, walking beasts. I couldn't wait. However, unlike what some might glean from the previews, this is not a children's movie, nor is it a teen movie, nor really an adult movie. It's art, pure and simple. And it is beautifully done.
If you are not the type that can appreciate the imagination and vision of childhood, this movie is not for you. The biased adult mind sees too much in this movie - the Boy even admitted to that. He wanted to overcomplicate it, try to put reason and structure to it, and that is the last thing you want to apply. This is a child's world, and it obey's a child's rules for it - even down to his greatest fears and expectations.
This movie is a lovely metaphor for a child's spirit and mind. It helps that is is visually stunning - the costumes are brilliantly done - and the story keeps you reacting. You feel the emotional pain when Max recognizes what he has done to his mother when the Wild Things mirror the action. You feel his alienation when Max approaches strangers to the Family. My only complaint is the soundtrack. It was good, but I was left wanting just a little more diversity.
So if you are the type that ventured into the land of the Wild Things when you were a child, I highly recommend this work to venture there again. But if you were the type that shunned books and the world of imagination in general, I suggest you just walk on by on this one. "Saw VI" is just down the hall.
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5 comments:
Every time I'm invited to a baby shower, my gift is always books. The four that never change are ones that every child should have and read throughout the course of growing up: Goodnight Moon, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Charlotte's Web, and (of course) Where The Wild Things Are.
Some things never change.... for a reason!
I've been thinking about taking my five year old daughter to see this. I'm just worried about her ability to sit still and be quiet for the 90 minutes+.
If she can't pay attention, I don't recommend it. It's definitely a movie you have to want to enjoy. A quartet of kids a little younger than us wandered in just as the movie went dark, fidgeted, talked, texted, left and returned multiple times, then finally told us to enjoy the movie (the only other people in the theatre) before leaving us in peace.
Excellent review of the movie. It is not a kids movie, but not 'inappropriate' for kids. It's like watching Tom Hank's BIG. A great rendition of a movie -about- kids, and their trials and tribulations. Wonderfully done Art indeed. :)
I can't wait to see this movie!
I have the soundtrack ( I love Karen O!!) but am holding off listening to it until I've seen the film as the music (for once) was made specifically for it. I guess that as a Yeah Yeah Yeahs fan I am perfectly ok with a lack of musical diversity, gimme more Karen O!
I have to find the right friend to go see it with me, because sometimes I cry during movies (make fun all you want, real men arent scared to cry *sometimes* lol) and I love this story so much, and I just know it will be so beautiful I'll get something caught in my eye.
Sidenote: I'm going as Max for halloween, pics on my blog next week. I even ad to learn to sew this week to make the costume.
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