Though I have not been to the cinema in ages – think Slumdog Millionaire – the other night I went to see ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ with some good friends. Although as a Romanian I had never come across Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic, Jamie mentioned it to me a few months back and the trailer looked intriguing.
I was very curious. The combination of novelist Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius) and director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) was a pretty intriguing one if a little bent towards eccentricity. Add to that the fact that most readers of the slim book thought of it impossible to adapt as a film…
Obviously I will not spoil the plot for those who want to see it. Just a few remarks:
- It is a quite clever analysis (almost Freudian) of the multiple co-existing facets of our personalities – so it will stimulate your mind
- It is visually stunning presenting a magical yet believable fantasy – so it will please you aesthetically – think Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam
- It is not a children’s film – I found it quite disturbing
- It does not explain ‘by numbers’ and does not offer any lessons in a patronising way
For a taster watch this on the Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2009/dec/11/where-the-wild-things-are
ON THE WAY 