Face your problems, not repress.
Based off the classic tale by Maurice Sendak, director Spike Jonze brings it to life with beauty and tension. We follow the little boy Max( played by Max Records ) who at the beginning of the film deals with neglected problems with his sister, his divorced mother and uneasiness about the future. In school his teacher explains how the Sun is going to die out and engulf the Earth, but before that happens human existence may cease to exist. A little 'end of the world' tension perhaps?
One night his mother brings home a date, which Max does not approve of at all. He causes a ruckus and his mother tries to restrain him, but Max retaliates by biting her and then running away. Upon a shore he finds a boat and sails to an island full of "WILD THINGS" all with childish personalities. After careful persuasion the Wild Things make him their ruler.
There are a lot of themes about repression and growing up or really the refusal of growing up. Along with this repression comes in some serious pseudo-Freudian aspects. As in any Oedipus complex scenario, Max displays some pretty strict ownership actions towards his mother, particularly when he gets upset with his mother's visitor. He stands up on the counter looking down at her and calls her 'Woman'.
As one of the key lines in the film that creeps in ever so, "Will You Hide Away The Sadness?" connects strongly with the thematic aspects of the primitive refusal of growing up. Instead of dealing with his problems Max runs away, to hide away his problems into a place of immaturity and primitiveness all of which are physically embodied in the Wild Things. As with any Freudian terms, Max represses his reality and ventures into a land of Wild Things. In Freudian terms, it is when one represses certain aspects of their lives and it shows up in their dreams. Max is a psychoanalytical story of anger. His anger is something he must conquer when he comes across the Wild Things!
Each Wild Thing, I may be reading too much into this, can relate to one of the cardinal sins/seven deadly sins, since there are seven of them. The main Wild Thing that Max hangs out with, Carol resembles and connects with strongly can be Wrath, since Max is mostly angry with his mother, while Carol has some tension with another 'female "Wild Thing" under the abbreviation K.W. and Carol is perhaps the most barbaric of the seven. Like Max, Carol is dealing with an overwhelming dilemma of sadness and loneliness due to K.W. For Max it is with his mother.
There are several references to the 'baby teeth' motif. Have you ever had the dream where your teeth fall out? In dreams these symbolize that one is moving unto maturity, both physically and mentally. Literally your baby teeth fall out so that your new teeth can grow in. This concept helps embellish this growing up motif ever further with Max.
Though it has some dark overtones and some frightening scenes, but not half as scary as CORALINE, it is quite difficult to distinguish the target audience of this film. It does not exactly feel like a kids film, nor does it feel adult film, including teens. However, such a notion can reflect the state of mind of Max. In a way he is sort of in a state of being in limbo. He is clearly growing up but refuses to do the more grown up action. He has to face his problems, not repress them with primitive beasts.
What is interesting enough, to being taking aback more into primitiveness, is that the Wild Things creatures are a careful blend between CGI and costumes. Their facial expressions are neatly created through computer animation while their bodies remain intact. Like CORALINE, we are perhaps dwelling a little too much into virtual creativity and it's nice to go back into seeing real physical things. It's a nuisance when it is obviously a computer generated image in a live-action film, like a close-up of Peter Parker's face in Spider-Man 3. In 'Where The Wild Things Are' these creatures are breathtaking to look at. Overall, a charismatic and intriguing film that is an enlightening journey in dealing with ones inner demons.
Grade: A-
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