Wild at Heart

Few people would place Kanye West in the same category as Maurice Sendak—the poet and illustrator behind Where the Wild Things Are. That is, unless you're Spike Jonze. The director, who has known Sendak for 14 years (the iconic children's book is the basis for Jonze's upcoming film), chalks up their similarities to an inability to self-censor or engage in small talk. "I make up a lot of shit. I can't tell the real story," Sendak quips early on in the new documentary, Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak.

The film is a collaborative project between Jonze, Lance Bangs and 66 Productions (comprised of PAPER's Hunter Hill, Allison Sarofim and Perry Moore, who are currently at work on a series based on Moore's novel Hero for Showtime). And it serves as a striking, brutally intimate and honest portrayal of an exceptionally dynamic personality (whom Hill calls "an American treasure"). Jonze sums it up best as "very informal conversations with this one-of-a-kind person." The documentary, which debuts October 14th on HBO and at the Museum of Modern Art six days earlier, explores "the puzzle of it all: family, relationships, work and being creative," Jonze says. In it, Sendak muses on a variety of topics, including the transcendental aspects of illustration ("It's true happiness."); realizing he was gay ("more bad news"); and not having children ("If you don't do it well, why do it at all?"). And, despite a razor-sharp sense of humor and ravenous appetite for cynicism, Sendak allows for tender moments as well: "Why is my needle stuck in childhood? I guess that's where my heart is."

Tell Them Anything you want airs october 14th on HBO.

JONZEING FOR MORE?
Tell Them Anything You Want screens as part of "Spike Jonze: The First 80 Years," a retrospective taking place at the MoMA from October 8th to the 18th. Festivites include: "An Evening of Skate Videos," a PopRally event on October 15th, with panel discussions (featuring Jonze himself), screenings and an after-party performance by L.A. noise-rockers No Age.

Above, Top: Preliminary design for the cover of Where the Wild Things Are. Watercolor on paper, Seond Row (l-r): Still from Tell Them Anything You Want; Still from the film Where the Wild Things Are.