19th
Spike Jonze has crafted a Max from the Antoine Doinel mode: the music video auteur strives to capture The 400 Blows’ essence of childhood and burgeoning adolescence. Where The Wild Things Are beautifully conveys the uncertainties and contradictions of growing up: loving a person so much that you want them only to yourself; experiencing emotions only in their extremes; the dumb and dangerous things you do to break the boredom; acknowledging that there’s a world beyond your solipsistic mindset; leaving the womb and your safe place in order to live your life, and let your mother live hers; the simple need to feel loved and like you belong.
The movie reaches transcendence in its first reel, a shaky camera following Max around his wintry home landscape and his shifting home life. The Wild Things are incredibly realized and visceral, but for some reason the alchemy isn’t quite right and the movie doesn’t hum like it could. Which is to say, it ain’t perfect, but it’s great. Any movie, though, that focuses on the loneliness of being, on the difficulty of looking past yourself to accept the love of another, and subtly expands a 16-page book into a full-fledged feature film deserves a wild rumpus of praise.
And those owls!
