Speaking Volumes

            
Last week I watched Tell Them Anything You Want, a short film/documentary on Maurice Sendak made by Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze. The documentary was made while Jonze was working on his film version of Where the Wild Things Are. It’s clear in the film that Sendak and Jonze became close friends during the collaboration, and in the bonus material you find out that Sendak has even spent Thanksgiving with Jonze and his family, and see that the two are not shy about saying how much they love each other. Not that Maurice Sendak seems all that shy about saying anything! I think the fact that the two have a real friendship is what makes the film feel so intimate. You see an 80 year old curmudgeonly Sendak, talking frankly and openly about his life and his art, not just to the camera, but to a real life friend.
 
Sendak spends a lot of the film talking about his own childhood and how a mix of both wonderful and traumatic childhood experiences have influenced his work. He spends even more time talking about death and dying. He seems certain he is about to die, and makes dark and sarcastic comments alluding to that throughout the film. He alternates between seeming deeply unsatisfied with his life and his work, and almost in the same breath speaking lovingly of what makes him happy - his dog, memories of his siblings, his art. All in all, he comes across as a brilliant, bizarre, funny, dissatisfied old man, and a completely engaging storyteller.
 
I knew the film was bound to be interesting, after all Sendak is both a beloved and controversial children’s author, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I even watched all the DVD bonus features, which I never do. The documentary made me want to re-read all his books, and watch Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are movie, something I had (for no good reason) been putting off.