It's a hard job, being king in the land of ids

I'm still thinking about the movie of Where the Wild Things Are. First and foremost, it's not a film of the book but a film that uses the book as a source text for plot and imagery, which are then deeply transformed. It's gorgeous, emotionally intelligent, and refuses to explain things, especially not didactically -- all pluses. And the wonderfully (almost painfully) expressive monsters are technical masterpieces.

But I have to wonder just who the audience for this is -- both intended and practical. Even though it's about learning to cope with pre-pubescent emotions, I can't escape the conviction that it's not a movie for children. So much of what's going on seems to require hindsight to understand. Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm misreading it, but it seems to me that it's really a movie for twentysomethings and those early thirtysomethings who are trying to come to terms with this whole adulthood thing.

Which may in fact be the point of the perfectly timed knock-knock joke.

I think I like it. But as I said, I'm still thinking. Anyone else seen this?

(Heh. Spellcheck wants to change thirtysomethings to tiresome. Oh really?)

---L.