Director Spike Jonze, who in collaboration with Charlie Kauffman gave us gems like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, comes up with another beautiful, coming-of-age fantasy "Where the Wild Things Are". It is the story of Max, disobedient but a lonely eight year old boy. He often wears a wolf costume and pretends to be an animal. One day his divorced mother brings her boyfriend to dinner. Max insists on showing her the castle that he has built and when she ignores him, he wears his wolf costume and throws a fit. When she tries to stop him, he bites her and runs away from home. He reaches a remote wild place where he encounters several monster like creatures. He convinces them that he is a great king who can solve all their problems. Carol, one of the monsters, is an impulsive and destructive monster, very much like Max. KW is a female monster who often leaves the group to meet a secret friend which irks Carol very much. Max and Carol form a friendship owing to the similarity of their nature.
It was half way through the movie that I realized that these monsters are nothing but Max's monsters within and represent himself and people around him. Carol represents Max himself, always violent, annoying KW with his tantrums. KW, whom Carol is very possessive of, represents his mother. I am not sure what the other monsters represent, though some of them must be his sister, her boyfriend and her friends.
The movie is about Max's coming-of-age and redemption. In the end, Max realizes what his mother must be going through due to his regular tantrums. The director doesn't seem to be much interested in spoon feeding the audience with the actual meaning of the events. But the metaphors are pretty obvious to decipher. Some scenes made me feel nostalgic of my childhood. They made me realize how much fun it was to be irresponsible and being in my own world.
The visuals are stunning. The desert, the beaches, the bushes, the fort constructed by the monsters, everything looks so beautiful. The monsters are very intelligently done through a mixture of CG and suit performances.
Though it drags at places, "Where the Wild Things Are" is a good watch that would surely leave you with a feeling of nostalgia.
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