Where The Wild Things Are
Never has a movie moved me the way this one did. A day later and I’m still thinking about this amazing film. The movie was very loosely based on the book that I grew up loving so very much rather than a word for word visual retelling and Spike Jonze executed every tiny bit of it beautifully. There’s something to be said for a film that is so beautiful both visually and emotionally but I won’t be able to find the right words for it.
What I will tell you is that this movie was put into a child’s vocabulary but relates to issues much bigger than anything a child would understand. These wild things are violent and crude and angry and so very, very sad. They are friends that Max needed because they were just like him. They modernized the story to make it relatable to those who are most attracted to the book even well into their adult years. Max is angry and lonely and doesn’t understand why his family fell apart, things they speak very little of but that are portrayed by actions and expressions. The wild things are the same way and Max needed to know that he is not alone in feeling that way. This wasn’t a clear message to the little kids I’m sure it was meant to console but it consoled the inner child inside of me and my sister who are adults who still feel that way deep down inside.
The real issues that are touched upon in this movie are portrayed with such a truth and innocence that even the coldest of hearts will be left misty eyed by the end of the film. It is not uplifting and you will leave the theatre feeling a little like you just walked out of a rough therapy session, but much in the same way of rough therapy sessions, you will you feel much better and like something heavy has been lifted off of your chest after you reflect on the movie a little while longer. It makes you know that you are not alone and someone out there feels the way you do or the way your inner child does and that is the most comforting feeling in the world.
This movie had me crying like a baby from the moment Carol makes an outburst about how Max was supposed to protect them and he didn’t, he lied, all up until the end of the movie. This movie is about growing up and letting go and learning to accept that it’s okay to be angry but that you need to forgive and find the love around you, because that is the most important thing of all.
