DVD Review: Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a simple, illustrated children’s book with barely nine pages of text yet the notion of bringing this story to live-action glory on the big screen was incredibly contentious. As the news broke that Maurice Sendak had enlisted the services of Spike Jonze to direct the live-action version of the story and the first publicity pictures were released, many an adult spoke of the incredible impact that this simple story had on their lives. It seemed that people were waiting with bated breath to see whether this version would do justice to this beloved book.

Although it was never explicitly stated in the book, somehow Where The Wild Things Are appealed to all the children who had ever felt lonely, angry or frustrated. Those of us feeling these emotions knew that adventure and social standing was just a short boat ride away. Or was it really?

Spike Jonze directed the film and wrote the screenplay together with Dave Eggers. Together, they created a rich film with incredible depth that tackles issues such as broken homes, anger, acting out, loyalty, betrayal, loneliness, love, and home.

Max is lonely. His teenage sister has her friends and his divorced mother has her new boyfriend but all he has is his dog and his wild imagination. In the opening scenes of the film he tears around in his wolf suit terrorising his dog in the manic rough-and-tumble way we all play with our pets and he builds a snow igloo in which to store his precious snowballs. He starts a snowball fight with his sister’s friends and they dive onto his igloo, crushing it and leaving Max distraught.

Life is never boring, often crazy and fun, but with no one to share his ups and downs, Max finds himself feeling lonely and frustrated. His mother encourages his madcap eccentricities to a point but his antics embarrass her in front of her boyfriend and he bites her when she tries to discipline him and then runs away. (In the book, he is sent to bed without dinner.)

Max discovers a boat which he boards and he travels to the place where the wild things are. He narrowly escapes being eaten by the wild things by claiming to be a king where he comes from and by proclaiming to have special powers. Thus begins an adventure of wild rumpuses, sleeping in piles, fort building, and staring into the sun.

Article Author: Emm

An Office Slave from London, Emm would rather be spending her days blogging. For now we have to tolerate work getting in the way of the important stuff.


I have continued to write for BlogCritics under my new profile Mandy …

Visit Emm's author page — Emm's Blog