i don’t like to get into reviewing movies, and this isn’t a review, but this movie floored me, really. i think the thing i liked about it most was that every character in it was a real person. the mom, sister, carol, and all the other monsters you just felt empathy for, each character was just real. they were all just trying to be happy, trying to make each other happy, but unable to really do it, for more than some brief moments, that never work out the way you plan. it was probably one of the most accurate depictions of real life i’ve seen on a movie screen (fantasy aspects not withstanding).
and it’s sad. it’s probably the saddest ‘kids’ movie i’ve ever seen. there is no happy ending, things just keep going. it gave me chills, over and over again. when max is in school at the beginning, his teacher is telling him how the sun is going to ‘die’ someday. when he first goes ‘where the wild things are’, they try to eat him, and he convinces them not to by telling them he’s a king. so they make him king, and in a moment that seriously makes you want to cry they ask him whether he can keep out the sadness. since he’s afraid of being eaten, he tells them, yeah, he has an sadness shield that’s big enough for all of them. but he’s just a kid. and we’re reminded of that over and over again. he has no answers to stop them from arguing with each other, to make their problems go away. he can’t control their anger or fix anything. he has no magic shields or abilities and he can’t even keep his promises.
i don’t know, i just left the theatre last night it a very… contemplative mood. the psychology behind this film is brilliant (as it was in the book, but this takes it to a new level). it kept making me think of this clip from south park:
anyways, yeah, if i ran the oscars, where the wild things are, best picture of 2009.
