DVD Review: Where the Wild Things Are

It seems amazing that anyone could make a whole film out of Maurice Sendak’s children’s picture book, but writer Dave Eggers and director Spike Jonze have managed to do just that. This is fundamentally a film about childhood – but not an idealised vision of childhood that is innocent and joyful, more a time of life when you’re helpless at the mercy of events, and when emotions can threaten to overwhelm you. The real-world opening is achingly sad, completely involving you in the world of a lonely and troubled little boy. Once the action moves into the fantasy world, the Wild Things he finds there are as childlike as the young hero himself – they crave reassurance, they feel rejected when their friends find other friends, they are playful but their games can quickly turn to squabbles and end in tears. And the film manages to show that the squabbles are not petty, to the Wild Things they feel completely serious and all-consuming.

In many ways, this is a very simple film. The slight plot barely matters – it is all about the world it creates. The world of the Wild Things is visually creative, the characters flawed but engaging and a stunningly beautiful soundtrack by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs adds a huge amount to the atmosphere, making this film deeply melancholy and hauntingly affecting.