Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak (2009 TV Movie) User Reviews

Intimate and heartfelt portrait

[BigJimNoFool · 8/10 · 14 November 2020]

I knew absolutely zilch about this fella beforehand and 40mins later i feel i got to know what makes up the moments of this man's life and inner thoughts.

Brevity is indeed the soul of wit. Straight forward, straight talkin, no nonsense just a man talking about his life to his friend, the director, Spike with openness and honesty.

Sendak the person

[GMGoodwrenchGirl · 8/10 · 11 November 2019]

This is really not for kids, just to get that out of the way. It is just Sendak relating stories about his childhood and how his experiences affected him throughout his life. He talks very briefly about being gay and the issues he faced because of that. Of course he does talk about some of his books, and how he became a children's author.

I knew nothing of Sendak...I read and enjoyed his books as a kid, that's it. He really is an enigma...sometimes cursing and crotchety, sometimes very solemn, sometimes funny...you just don't know quite what to think. I came away from this thinking he was actually a very kind person, very introspective and still very much rooted in his childhood...which I can relate to. It's like he said, "it's where my heart is".

He was a beautiful illustrator, so unique. I love his art even more than his stories, and this film shows many examples of his work.

Sendak fans must see

[Gunner-Ahlberg · 8/10 · 23 May 2018]

In 2003, Jonze and his frequent collaborator Lance Bangs began taping a series of interviews with the well over 80 years old Sendak at his home, listening (and sometimes prodding) as Sendak recalled his boyhood, his early career, the phenomena and controversies of "Wild Things" and "In The Night Kitchen", and what it was like to live as a gay man at a time when going public with his sexuality might've ended his career. Sendak is a natural performer in front of the camera, and a man of contradictions. This film is really insightful. If you like Mr. Sendak's work, you will truly enjoy this doc.

An insight into Sendak's work and life

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 5 February 2018]

"Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak" is a fairly long title for a relatively short movie as this documentary here runs for under 40 minutes only. It was directed by Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze and that's not a coincidence of course as Jonze worked with Bangs on other occasions and of course one of Jonze's more known works is an adaptation of a well known Maurice Sendak book. Still the focus here lies not too much on the many film adaptations from Sendak's body of work, but on his own creative approach, also at times on his personal life away from his profession. And from that perspective, you get pretty much all you can expect, maybe even hope for. Still it is not a film that will really turn you into a fan of the author, but it is a work you will appreciate, maybe even love if you already have a connection with the author, for example through loving his works when you were a child or reading your own kids from his work. I myself must say though that all I am in touch with with Sendak is through Jonze's WTWTA and as I was not too big a fan of this film, especially given how much I love some of Jonze's other stuff, and maybe that's the reason why this documentary short did not do too much for me. Sadly Sendak died a few years after this was released back in 2009, so it will have its 10th anniversary next year, but he left us a lot of creativity and I am by no means judging him as a writer here. An entirely subjective thumbs-down from me for this one.

A Little Unorganized and All Over the Place!

[Sylviastel · 12 July 2011]

This documentary is a tribute to 80 year old children's writer and illustrator, Maurice Sendak. We visit his home in Ridgefield, Connecticut where he still draws and writes with his beloved dog, Herman, beside him. I was troubled by his use of profanity in the documentary where this could be shown to younger audiences to understand one of their favorite authors. Anyway, I felt that Sendak didn't spend enough time about his books and life. I felt the director and camera man didn't focus in on his works and intertwined with his life. I didn't know he was gay nor that he had a longtime relationship with a man, Dr. Eugene Glynn, for over 50 years. I would have liked to have known more about their relationship but they didn't really inquire into it. He lives with Lynn, a female best friend, who takes care of him for the most part in his Connecticut home. I didn't realize how unhappy that a children's writer could be or that he didn't desire to be a father himself.