Where the Wild Things Are

I saw Where the Wild Things Are last night and liked it. It is not a kids movie. The overall tone is one of sadness.

We quickly learn that Max feels very alone and confused. His parents are divorced. His Mom is overworked and can't pay enough attention to him, (although she has time for a boyfriend). Neither does his sister, except when she and her friends beat up on him.

This film is a parable about what divorce does to little kids. It makes them confused (They think they are bad because they can't understand the emotions they are feeling and think they are the cause of all the problems). They feel angry, sad, lonely, out of control and sometimes express this all as rage.

The monsters or Wild Things that Max finds on the Island when he runs away are all parts of himself and in trying to appease them he is trying to figure out himself and his own needs.

As a grown up child of divorced parents I don't think one ever fully recovers from the trauma. You go through life wounded like the Wild Thing that gets his arm ripped off. You might put a stick in your arm's place but it's not just the same.

The visuals are great and fit the tone of the movie perfectly. The monsters are convincing, the landscape is captivating and the buildings and models the monsters build remind me of Andy Goldsworthy on steroids.

This is a beautiful but sad movie because it reflects the reality of too many children who experience divorce.