Director: Spike Jonze
Starring: Max Records, James Gandolfini (voice of) & Lauren Ambrose (voice of)
A wonderful adaptation of the classic children’s story which builds upon the original story without losing the tone or magic of Sendak’s story.
Eight years in the making since Spike Jonze, director of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, was brought in to adapt the classic children’s story for the big screen, Where the Wild Things Are is finally released after many rumours of problems with the studios over Jonze’s early cut of the film which scared many children during its test screening. Whether any re-shoots were done since then is hard to see as the resulting film is an excellent adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s book which remains very scary at times, very mature for grown ups yet still embraces the fun of childhood to make this still a film for children, albeit not little ones.
A troublesome child, Max (Records), has troubles with his broken family made up of a distant sister, absent father and a mother who he feels spends more time with her new boyfriend than with him. After throwing a temper tantrum at dinner and running away from home, he imagines himself travelling across the ocean to a strange land where large, beast like creatures live who are undergoing their own dysfunctional family problems. Led by the short tempered, yet imaginative Carol (Gandolfini), the Wild Things are tricked by Max into believing Max is a king and able to solve their problems and reunite them with their own runaway member KW (Ambrose). With life improving for the group for a small time, Max finds them falling apart again through their own differences and his own safety at risk should the Wild Things discover he is not a king.
An ambitious undertaking, adapting a beloved children’s story with few words into feature length feature film, so much could have gone wrong in the adaptation. With the help of writer Dave Eggers in writing the screenplay for the film, Jonze has managed to add enough to the original story to justify the extra running length for a film yet manages to make the additions feel organic to the story, as if they were always intended. The Wild Things have been fleshed out and given names and personalities and those personalities themselves appear to aspects of Max’s own personality and feelings towards those around him with Carol representing his imagination and frustration, KW his love and feelings of distance for/from his mother and sister amongst others. It is it delicate and engaging development of the original story and one that received the approval of Maurice Sendak himself. Relying on old fashioned suit and make up effects, with minimal CGI, to bring the Wild Things to life, they look like they have stepped directly from the pages of the original book. They are convincing, expressive and maintain the feelings of awe and fear of the original creatures. The tone of the film, whilst too layered and dark for smaller children is also impressively handled with moments of real fear (such as Max glimpsing the skeletons of former, failed kings) and also joy in the Wild Things childlike games.
In the lead role of Max, newcomer Max Records is impressive. He manages to embody Max’s turbulent, angry yet needy, nature with apparent ease and demonstrating Max’s vulnerabilities and fears as much with a subtle expression or gesture as much as through tears or dialogue. The voice casting in the film is also excellent with James Gandolfini leading the way as Carol, bringing the same childish anger to his voice performance as he did physically in his role as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos. The rest of the cast from Paul Dano as Alexander to Forest Whitaker and Catherine O’Hara as Ira and Judith, bring their character’s to life both fulfilling the personality traits each is meant to represent whilst interacting believably within the group itself.
Overall, Where the Wild Things Are is an excellent adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s original book that builds upon the original story believably and brings all the characters to life with great performances from the cast while maintaining a tone that is both dark and joyful like the original book and should please adults and children alike. Just don’t take the little children!
Rating: 5/5
