101 Minutes

 

Directed By: Jim Hensen

Written By: Jim Hensen and Dennis Lee

Staring: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Frank Oz, Toby Froud, and Brian Henson

 

 

 

15-year-old Sarah accidentally wishes her baby half-brother, Toby, away to the Goblin King Jareth who will keep Toby if Sarah does not complete his Labyrinth in 13 hours.

 

 

Labyrinth is one of the most exciting movies of the 80’s stylistically and with an exciting and tangible story about a girl trying to save her young half-brother in a world of magic and goblins.  Jim Henson hit every mark on this dark adventure in a fantastical world you’ve never seen before.  The suspense and mystery of the Labyrinth is coupled with a light humor and joy that shows in most of Henson’s work and makes the tale that much more complex and compelling.  This story will forever be a warning to prove the old saying: “Be careful what you wish for, it may come true.”

 

The creative life force of the Labyrinth is propelled by it’s amazing animatronics, but mostly by the heart of it’s story.  The adventure of the story will have it’s appeal to most children, but the conflict between Sarah and her jealousy of her young brother Toby, while she laments the loss of her mother is it’s most engaging factor.  Because Sarah has lost the connection with her father with the addition of his new wife and family, Sarah feels completely alone.  In her solitude she escapes into her magical fantasy world to evade her reality, until at some point they intertwine.

 

The arrival of David Bowie’s character Jareth, “The Goblin King” brings a sinister and malevolent feel to the story, but also a subtle sensuousness.  His apparent affection for Sarah, and the fact that she loathes him, but is a part of her is still drawn to him, makes their relationship and his challenge bewildering.  This questionable relationship and desires between the two, and Sarah’s apparent attraction to darkness, makes her mission even more daunting without even mentioning the physical conquests to overcome.

 

The score and soundtrack are just as powerful in this film as the actors, puppets, and story.  David Bowie is responsible for some of the catchy and also dark songs that further the passion for the scenes they implement.  It evokes a very powerful texture to the story, but also contains a element of fun and pop/rock feel that makes it tangible enough to sing along with.

 

Some of the most amazing puppet work of it’s time is brought to life in this film.   Sarah meets a number of good and bad character’s along her travels, but does manage to find helpful, and sometimes not so helpful companions.  Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus’s character’s felt just as a alive as our flesh characters played by Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie.  There is a an intricate and perplexing relationship that all the character’s develop with one another.  From the inability to trust one another, to the budding relationships of friendship, the hurt of betrayal, and a sensuous sense of wrong desire, makes for a multiplex of emotions running high throughout the story.  It’s incredible that puppets, an abused monster, a character that is a child napper essentially, and a teen girl have so many layers to their persona’s.  It makes the movie so much more than a visually cool film that relies solely on it’s puppet magic world to entertain.

 

There is an element of The Wizard Of Oz and Dorothy here that can’t be ignored, but it’s nowhere near a copy.  Obviously, the influence of Oz is here, and unquestionably inspired some of the theme.  Sarah meets friends along her journey as well, but her friends aren’t obediently loyal to her and in search of their own rightness.  Her friends are troubled beings, outcasts amongst outcasts, and have had to battle good and evil to make their way in the menacing world of the Labyrinth.  The dark overtones of the film make it an even more exciting adventure and when mixed with great humor it has all that is required of a great movie.  Labyrinth was my favorite movie as a child and is still one of my favorites today.  It is an original classic that will forever be remembered as my favorite piece of art Jim Henson left behind.

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