Where The Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze film adaption

[mwgdrwg]

is it a good film to take kids to (8 - 10 yrs) or would it bore them senseless? (I'm sensing the latter from some of the comments here)

My 8 year old (nine in a few weeks) daughter LOVED it.

 

[Blagsta]

I saw a preview of it last week and thought it was disappointing, especially as the film gets so much right. The Wild Things themselves are great, Karen O's soundtrack is beautiful, Spike Jonze's hyper realistic approach brings something unusual to the fantasy and the kid who plays Max is excellent. Unfortunately once he gets to the island almost nothing happens, not plot, no forward momentum. Characters seem to do stuff almost at random. It's a bit like a small kid making up a story on the spot: cute when it's your own kid, less cute when its another kid, tedious when it's a screenplay. Dave Eggers should stick to writing novels.

I thought it was great. It was about relationship dynamics and their difficulties. That was where the action was.

 

[Blagsta]

I don't think it is a film for children though, it is a film about children, about what it is like to be a child. And it can be very sad. Children already know this.

the whole film moved on the emotions of max and the wild things, which was interesting in itself.

yes and yes

 

[Blagsta]

Really ? Of all the mainstream films in recent years I can't think of a single one that was so devoid of structure or plot.

I think you missed what it was about.

 

[thriller]

I thought it was pretty good and I'm 31.

And Gandolfini (sp) was perfectly voice cast as Carol.

Can someone please tell me if the creatures actually existed or did the kid just make them up? He clearly could not have disappeared for so long as his mum did not seem to be worried at all when he got back-indicating he was probably just gone for a few hours?

 

[Blagsta]

I thought it was pretty good and I'm 31.

And Gandolfini (sp) was perfectly voice cast as Carol.

Can someone please tell me if the creatures actually existed or did the kid just make them up? He clearly could not have disappeared for so long as his mum did not seem to be worried at all when he got back-indicating he was probably just gone for a few hours?

My interpretation is that it was about him working through his feelings about the dynamics in his family. The bit where he upset one of the wild things (can't remember their names, a female one, they said "ha" to each other increasingly aggresively) was telling when she said something like "you aren't supposed to do that back to me, you're supposed to make everything alright and love me whatever I do" (I paraphrase a bit). That was clearly about his relationship with his mum, as children we want our parents to love us whatever we do, understand us when we act out and not respond in kind. There were lots of other interactions between max and the wild things which mirrored his emotional life at home. e.g. the dirt clod fight which got out of hand mirrored Max getting hurt in the snowball fight. The film was about Max working through his feelings, the family dynamics and starting to see thing from other's perspectives as well as gaining insight into his own feelings.

 

[thriller]

My interpretation is that it was about him working through his feelings about the dynamics in his family. The bit where he upset one of the wild things (can't remember their names, a female one, they said "ha" to each other increasingly aggresively) was telling when she said something like "you aren't supposed to do that back to me, you're supposed to make everything alright and love me whatever I do" (I paraphrase a bit). That was clearly about his relationship with his mum, as children we want our parents to love us whatever we do, understand us when we act out and not respond in kind. There were lots of other interactions between max and the wild things which mirrored his emotional life at home. e.g. the dirt clod fight which got out of hand mirrored Max getting hurt in the snowball fight. The film was about Max working through his feelings, the family dynamics and starting to see thing from other's perspectives as well as gaining insight into his own feelings.

I noticed the points you made, but didn't really pick up on it as I was really entralled by creatures-they look so cute.

 

[8115]

I thought it was pretty good and I'm 31.

And Gandolfini (sp) was perfectly voice cast as Carol.

Can someone please tell me if the creatures actually existed or did the kid just make them up? He clearly could not have disappeared for so long as his mum did not seem to be worried at all when he got back-indicating he was probably just gone for a few hours?

Whether he made it up is something for you to decide for yourself, in the book he is only gone for a few hours as he gets back and his supper is waiting for him, and it's still hot. In my eyes asking if the monsters are real is kind of a meaningless question, they are real in the context of the film.

 

[8115]

Here is the first chapter of the Eggars novelisation by the way. It's pretty good if you like that sort of thing, which I do:

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/08/24/090824fi_fiction_eggers?printable=true

 

[not-bono-ever]

I was glad when it was over. all the sexy shooting and monster costumery dont make that big fat story hole in the middle any more watchable