So here we are at the end of 2009 and I have been a terrible writer, but thankfully the masses don't care about this silly thing. Anywho. This year marked a slew of wonderfully quirky and audacious films, not the least of which was Spike Jonze's masterful Where the Wild Things Are. In adapting Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book Jonze had a lot of responsibility. Not only did he have to create a good film, as all directors are charged to, but make it one that expanded the minute book into a big screen adaptation that was true to the heart of the magic of the book. In my eyes he has done it. Where the Wild Things Are is in itself a very wild thing. With little traditional narrative Jonze has instead chosen to allow the film to just be which is part of the wonder of it. It walks with Max, the wildest of all wild things, as he learns about the pains of leaving childhood. It is big and loud when he is and small and tender when he is. It swings on every whim of his emotions, which are plentiful. There is never a rush to a big climax and you never feel like you are being set up for something bigger to come, instead you are allowed to gaze with wonder as you remember those feelings. What separates this film from other "childrens" films is it doesnt dwell on only happiness in childhood, it also reminds you that you cried as a kid and you hurt and you understood a whole lot more than childrens movies typically think children do. The film is accompanied by Karen O's perfect soundtrack that is one of the more genius soundtracks/scores I've heard, maybe up there with Johnny Greenwood's for There Will Be Blood. This film is a spirited hymn to those days long past and to the wonder of imagination.
(Current Song: All is Love by Karen O and the Kids)
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