Where The Wild Things Are

Spike Jonze's spirited screen interpretation of Maurice Sendak's childhood masterpiece Where The Wild Things Are pulls no punches in taking the essential message of the book and transferring that successfully to the silver screen.

The challenge with Sendak's story is that its short, only some twenty pages, and filled with imagination and adventure. The latter actually lends it to screen adaptation, where Jonze decided to flesh out the 'wild rumpus' between Max and the Wild Things with all sorts of sequences of frivolity and violence. In addition, the whole idea of all collapsing in a heap together to sleep is beautifully handled, as the Wild Things do just that.

But it's not all book-to-screen transposition in the film. Firstly, Jonze had to flesh out some of the characters. Max is obviously given a much deeper portrayal (wonderfully played by Max Records), with a rather touching back story of familial strife and loneliness, explaining his bad behaviour. Meanwhile, the Wild Things are given names and voiced by an impressively diverse cast (James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper and Michael Berry Jr.; Gandolfini is particularly impressive as the passionate Carol). I had never before wondered what the voices of the Wild Things would be like, but was completely taken in by this choice of Jonze's, making them seem ever so americana and ordinary, as figments of adults as Max might imagine them, completely down to mundane names and normal voices.

Secondly, the score and cinematography both deserve note; the film is so colourful and epic in scope, with rapidly changing scenery and music that both compliments and enhances the drama that it's easy to feel swept away into the thrill of the events and feel as though one is escaping into this other world imaginary realm. And like the book, there's never a moment where it's stated "and this was all a dream". Indeed, that's another of the film's strengths: it added and expanded on the story, while never needing to contradict or explain away other details. The child-voiced choir directed by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a beautiful touch and does not challenge anything we already knew from the novel.

Finally, the expansion work Jonze has undertaken is shown in the themes of the story. We have a story about a boy fleeing to an imaginary world in which he can get away with anything and is ruler of the roost. In doing so, he begins to miss his family and appreciates the challenges of being a grown-up or the one in control. This is perfectly captured by the film, but also nuanced; there's a broken home that Max escapes, and the challenges of leading the Wild Things are far from straightforward, with a real threat of danger that comes across and adds a chill to much of the drama that occurs between the Wild Things and Max. He's an imperfect hero, and he begins to appreciate those imperfections as the story unfolds, to his benefit.

Utterly engaging and enjoyable.

~~~

2009

Max Record, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Lauren Ambrose, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael Berry Jr, Chris Cooper

dir. Spike Jonze