Short Take: A poingant tale that really hits home

Director: Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation)

Screenwriters: Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers, Maurice Sendak (book)

Cast: Max Records (The Brothers Bloom), Catherine Keener (40 Year Old Virgin), James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Chris Cooper (Breach), Catherine O’Hara (Away We Go), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Lauren Ambrose (Love and Other Impossible Pursuits)

Length: 1h 21m

Synopsis: An ordinary boy named Max (Records), through dealing with everyday life, is finding out that the world is not everything he keeps hoping it will be. From having an older sister who doesn’t pay much attention to him, and a single mom (Keener) who is trying her best to keep her family afloat, he constantly relies on his vibrant imagination to create happiness. One day he runs away to find a land where he can find this happiness and discovers a place as wild as his dreams.

Analysis: From the very onset of the film we are introduced to Max as a boy with a very healthy imagination. Not an imagination that’s overactive, but one which he enjoys using whenever his spirits are low. Many children can no doubt relate to Max on this level, one of many that make him a character that is hugely believable because he is oh so familiar. Kids who are currently on his same plane, and adults who are able to look back and remember can understand completely that what Max represents is a period in life when it’s easier than ever to be frustrated with the world because it refuses to make any sense, and escaping into our imagination is a way of coping. What Max and everyone who identifies with him come to realize is the importance of dealing with that frustration not just in an imaginative way, but a healthy way.

The theme then becomes about learning best how to express one’s emotions (specifically that of frustration). As children we are/were all susceptible to our wild and fickle emotions, feeling like slaves to their wills and helpless to fight them despite knowing we could be hurting ourselves or others. We don’t/didn’t quite understand those emotions, and so trying to combat them and deny their release seemed like an exercise in futility. One way that many of us found to be a natural solution was to vent our frustration with these feelings in a violent manner. Max is someone who frequently arrives at this resolution. He’s not overly destructive – that is, to the point where he hurts himself or causes much harm to others – but his outbursts continually lead to negative effects (someone accidentally gets hurt, various objects get broken, etc.).

In many ways, this stage in life is quite animalistic. Creatures that don’t rightly know how to express themselves often do so in a physical manner (think about dogs, for example). When in doubt about how to express anger, frustration, confusion, or sadness, it feels natural to just lash out. Such expressions are to be considered, by those who are mature, wild. So where in fact are the wild things, and what are they? They are our primal emotions, and they are within each and every one of us. What we must discover, so the film attests, is how to deal with these wild things so that they don’t end up making us wild. This emotional growth is a step in maturity that every child must face, and doing so is never easy. It helps, though, to have friends and loved ones who are there to help guide you, which Max is lucky enough to learn he has. Growing up is an arduous process, but having love – and learning that you have it – makes it that much easier.

Rating: 8.0