Where the Wild Things Are Official Trailer - (2009)
"Max, you are out of control", his mother screamed before he ran and ran, away from his reality. Where The Wild Things Are (2009) was based on the much beloved children's picture book of the same name by Maurice Sendak, first published in 1963 which has since seen many different forms of adaptations, from animation, opera to this live-action film directed by Spike Jonze. The film received mixed reviews from the public and critics when it was released as they deemed it too dark and depressing for a "children's movie" as it explores the more realistic and complicated emotions of a child as compared to the simple language of the original picture book. The film is a beautiful interpretation of Sendak's work, as a fiction book lover, the film is by far the best adaptation into a movie of those I have seen.
"I only have one subject. The question I am obsessed with is: How do children survive?" — Maurice Sendak
While it may seem like a children's film, the film is catered more for adults. It is a story about childhood, a story that sparks nostalgia of the viewers. The theme of childhood has been explored in other movies like "A Monster Calls" and "Bridge to Terabithia", both of which are based on literary works as well. These stories shows us the imaginative world built by children as well as darker topics like the sudden lost of loved ones. Most importantly, these film provides an insight on how children see the world, what they may be feeling, what the adults have forgotten over time as they were faced with life.
Where The Wild Things Are revolves around Max, a boy with endless imagination who felt lonely and neglected. Max live in his own world, entertaining himself as his sister hangs out with her older friends and his mother, while caring for him dearly, is often stressed about work and also recently found a new "friend" after his parent's divorced. After a series of events that lead to a tantrum explosion, Max escaped from home and found a small boat that brought him across the seas to a land where the wild things are. He was crowned their king and the adventure begin.
Carol and Max
This strange world is seen as Max's mental escape. Model after the author's relatives, the creatures are complex metaphors of Max's emotions and people around him. For instance, Carol the main creature is lovable and imaginative but also short tempered, however what he really wanted was for everyone to stay together. He was destroying their homes when Max first spotted them, seeing how nobody sided with him, Max jumped in to help him. Perhaps Max saw himself in Carol, it reflected the whole ordeal that happened that day when his igloo was destroyed by his sister's friends. Carol could also be since as a incarnation of his father who was never shown in the film.
Max and Mum Max and KW
Max relates to two primary characters, while Carol embodied destructive impulses, KW is a soothing but weary character. The female character is seen as his protection from his own self-destructiveness, the motherly beast might also be Max's Super Ego to Carol's Id (Peele, 2009). Other interpretations see KW as Max's mother or sister. Carol was upset with KW who has moved out of the group as she met her new found friends, Bob and Terry which could represent Max feelings about both family member's respective partners. The males are wise and considerate of their female counterparts despite some personality issues. The females are opinionated as they could be seen as incarnations of the females in Max's life, his mother and sister. Rather than gender roles the creatures take on more the archetypes of psychological emotions of a child or Max's. None of the characters maps out to a specific aspect of Max's life, each complex in their own way. Jonze did a wonderful job enriching the characters as configurations of emotions as they play out in human character types (Holland, 2009).
Written in the 1960s, the characters also reflect the gender roles of society the time. When Max saw his mother snuggling with her partner, he was not thrilled with it, he stood on the table and roared at his mother, "Woman, feed me!" an open acknowledgment of the savagery of children, and the ways in which they're aware of gender roles even before they really know what the heck gender is (Zacharek, 2009). Max was eventually able to come to terms with his inner demons and amending his relationship with his mother. Although Max's mother was depicted to carry out "motherly" chores, such as preparing meals for her family, she is a working mum, while she cares dearly for both her children, she struggled with the pressure of work which resulted in unintentionally neglecting her children. However, despite her situation, she was able to support her family, and find happiness for herself.
"What an empowering, psychologically astute parable about a child learning that his anger, while sometimes overwhelming and scary, can be safely expressed and eventually conquered" — Bruce. H
When I was younger I was afraid of the big furry wild creatures, as I too had wild imaginations back then. However later on at the stage of "entering adulthood", I finally gotten around to seeing the film, it was then the film didn't seem terrifying anymore, on the contrary, it was nostalgic and heartwarming in an almost abstract manner. I was emotionally touched within the first ten minutes of the film. It captures emotions of childhood that seems quite realistic and relevant especially to children of this generation. This film has been added to my list of favourites because while it is not "logical", it conjures feelings that we have forgot we have forgotten. Max building a blanket tent and saying it's a ship, building his own kingdom with little or huge creatures as his subordinate, the furry creatures just playing and fighting together without ever having to eat. The worlds and scenario he created don't always make sense, but they don't have to, it was his world, a world he escaped to like every child did at some point of their life, therefore the land of imagination is based off the emotions of its creator than logic.
Behind the scenes on the filming of Where the Wild Things Are
Where The Wild Things Are did not receive as much appreciation for its effort as it should have. Jonze did a great job in bringing an imaginary world to life. While many fantasy themed movies today rely on CGI to create their characters that are out of this world, Jonze commissioned Jim Henson Creature Shop to make these grotesquely beautiful creatures come true. The only part of them that was digitally manipulated were the facial expressions of the wild things as the mechanism was to heavy for the puppeteers. Another important aspect was the mood of the set itself, in order to keep the child actor in "the state of childhood", the director made sure the set was lively allowing staff's children to roam around freely and explore every thing they could. From the little glimpse I had of the making of the film, it was heartwarming to see their interaction, I may be wrong but it almost feel like the adult found a piece of their inner child themselves.
Filmmakers have been using colours for visual storytelling even before colour existed in films. Jonze's use of colours was inspired by Sendak's illustrations which were similarly muted, however Jonze's colour palette is tinge more gloomy further reflecting a more mature themes as compared to the usual colourful wonders of a child's film. Jonze was able to set the tone of the film through the use of an earthy colour palette, subdued with neutrals as most of the scenes was shot in nature. According to the study of colours in film, the earthy browns and oranges are known to be friendly colours despite beind "dull". They suggests stability, trustworthiness, genuine and sincere, alternatively brown can be sensual, sensitive and warm, engulfing one in a feeling of calmness and comfort (Hurlbut, 2017). These are the emotion a child seeks and feels, and Max's world is his safe haven where he keeps out the problems of reality. The lighting also played an important part in mood setting, like the rush of nostalgia felt when dawn sent shimmering rays over the placid ocean after their rumpus through the woods or the emptiness felt as the light ebbed after after Carol discovered the truth about Max. The colours and lights worked beautifully together to create a sense of nostalgia, though we were never part of Max's childhood it somehow is reminds us of a forgotten time.
All is Love - Karen O and The Kids | Where the Wild Things Are
The film started with a melodic humming that was both beautiful and eerie. While many blockbuster film directors often opted for radio-ready songs, Karen O along with other indie rock artists who deemed themselves "Karen O and The Kids" as they thought themselves to be kids trapped in adult bodies. The artists working on the sound of the film was able to create strangely haunting yet emotional tracks that reflects the theme and amplifies the emotions of each scene. A children's choir was featured heavily in the soundtrack, Jonze once again made sure the feelings of the children were real, focusing more on having fun instead of their sound training. The songs offer simple lyrics like that of children's song yet the the melodies are melancholic, not the usual lively tunes you would expect from from one.
Where The Wild Things Are is one of the most underrated films of the past decade. It is overall a heartwarming film that effectively deal with the psychological experience of children, addressing anger, loneliness and darker emotions of a child that are hardly depicted in films. It is a tale of trith and realization. While children may find it terrifying or boring, it will be able to make grown ups reminisce a time when things seemed simpler and perhaps gain a different perspective in understanding children.
Reference
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Dargis, M. (2009) 'Some of His Best Friends Are Beasts', The New York Times, October 15. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/movies/16where.html ( Accessed: 28 April 2019 )
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O'Connor , M. (2013) 'Color in Films: Where the Wild Things Are', The Design Inspirationalist, May 29. Available at: https://thedesigninspirationalist.com/2013/05/29/color-in-films-where-the-wild-things-are/ ( Accessed: 28 April 2019 )
Peele, S. (2009) 'Mindfulness in Addiction and Film', Psychology Today, October 17. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/addiction-in-society/200910/mindfulness-in-addiction-and-film ( Accessed: 28 April 2019 )
Sancton, J. (2009) 'Where the Wild Things Are Built: Jim Henson's Creature Shop', Vanity Fair, October 17. Available at: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2009/10/where-the-wild-things-are-built-jim-hensons-creature-workshop ( Accessed: 28 April 2019 )
Sullivan, M. (2009) 'The Artist-Curated Soundtrack: Because a Film Score Is for a Film, Not a CD', Esquire, September 28. Available at: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a6424/where-the-wild-things-are-soundtrack-review-092809/ ( Accessed: 28 April 2019 )
Young, A. (2009) 'Cinema Sounds: Where The Wild Things Are', Consequence of Sound, September 30. Available at: https://consequenceofsound.net/2009/09/cinema-sounds-where-the-wild-things-are-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/ ( Accessed: 28 April 2019 )
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