The Wild Things

I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of the much anticipated Spike Jonze film Where the Wild Things Are last night at Melbourne Central. Co-produced by Warner Bros Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, the film is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's book of the same name and was filmed in Victoria, Australia after a worldwide location scouting process spanning 18 months.

Max is a mischievous young boy. Frustrated with his family and feeling alone, he escapes to an island of his own creation. The inhabitants of the island are giant, wild creatures who crown Max as their King. It's a story of childhood, but not necessarily for children. It's a fantastical tale, but not necessarily with a happy ending.

To be honest, I have never read the children's book - it was the soundtrack by Karen O. (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) that drew me to the film. I sat down in the theatre with no expectations, no pre-conceived ideas and no knowledge of how the story might end.

Where the Wild Things Are is dark and it's sorrowful and it's full of rage and confusion. Young actor Max Records plays the main character perfectly. He barely needs dialogue to express the painful disappointment of youth and the realisation that growing up brings no relief. His interactions with the monster Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini) are raw and wonderfully animalistic.

There are some great insights into the psychology of aggression and the development of personality in this story. Max's "island escape" gives him only fleeting relief while he deals with the facets of his own personality (represented by the monsters). Eventually his dark side catches up with him there too and he has to understand and challenge his own feelings before he can move on.

The film is sad. It's really, very sad. It's beautifully, heart-breakingly sad. I sat on the tram afterward enveloped in that numbing sadness ... but surprisingly - it's not a downer. There is something really uplifting about embracing that dark-side and playing with it and taking chances and Max is, after all, a hero and we watch and wait for him to conquer all.

Somehow though, even his smile tugs at your heart-strings. 

Please go see this on the big screen, I simply adored it. The cinematography is amazing and the locations truly look like they're from another world. There's a great little video about the Victorian locations here.

The official website for the film is here.

Where the Wild Things Are is in cinemas this Thursday the 3rd of December.