FRANKI'S FAVORITE FILMS film 2: Labyrinth

so, what do you get when you take Jim Hensen (creator of the muppets), Mr. Froud, a young Jennifer Connelly, George Lucas (whose name had better be known to the readers of this blog!), David Bowie, and a beautiful white barn owl, add a touch of M. C. Escher, toss it into the 80's and stir it all up?

Labyrinth!!! of course...

looking into my crystal ball, i see imminent spoilers!!! (seriously, it was made in 1986, so if you haven't seen it by now...)

Labyrinth is a story about an angsty teenaged girl who seems desperate to hold onto her dwindling childhood (which is fine with me, but don't be surprised when no one will treat you like an andult!) who wishes her little brother, Toby (who, incidentally, is played by Toby Froud, the creative director's one-year-old son) to be stolen away by Jareth, the Goblin King (who bears a striking resemblance to David Bowie in an awesome mullet wig and tight-tight pants!) who, according to Sara's own fairy tale, is hopelessly in love with her (though, why, no one can seem to figure out...). and, just to outdo myself, i'll add another "who." who.

naturally, Sarah realizes her mistake and decides she wants her brother back, stripey bum and all, so Jareth strikes a deal: if she can make it through the labyrinth, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, fighting her way to his castle beyond the Goblin City, she can then TRY to take back the child. oh, and she has 13 hours to do this in (i seriously want the clock hanging in Jareth's throne room, with it's bronze bits and ginormous cogs, that strikes thirteen at midnight...).

going through the labyrinth, Sarah meets up with many strange and unusual characters, including but not limited to Hoggle, a half-goblin-half-troll who is a bit of a greedy coward (who arcs into a good friend and better person by the end of the movie), Ludo, a tall, hairy beast with a connection to the rocks and a heart of gold, and Sir Diddymus, a half-dog-half-fox ex-soldior in easy retirement, guarding the bridge to the Bog of Eternal Stench (neither of whom have much of an arc, but are good characters nonetheless). she runs into a bunch of bad luck, like having all the marks she made to keep herself from going in circles being tampered with, having to solve riddles and fail, even when she gets the answer right, getting stuck in an Oubliette (awesome word meaning "dungeon lacking in doors"), being chased down Indiana-Jones style by a great, metal contraption known as the Cleaner, almost getting her head ripped off by Fireys, and being trapped in a bubbled masquerade and forced to look awesome and dance with a rock-star villain with tight-tight pants (seriously, she considered that BAD luck, and broke out of there...).

but, by far, my favorite part is at the near-end: Sarah, after having fought her way into the castle beyond the Goblin City, finds herself alone in the Escher room (better known as the Room of Stairs, where they go every which way, and gravity is dependant on which flight you're on) with Jareth and Toby (who by now is almost a full Goblin; he can manipulate the stairs with the same ease as Jareth himself). this is my favorite scene for several reasons:

1. the visual tricks -- while the way they were done may seem simple to us now, it would've been visually stunning back in "the day". and, unlike today's Digital Age, where the whipe from real to CG (which removes the audience from the story) is clumsey and under-thought, and extreamily expensive to do so, the visual tricks in the Escher scene of Labyrinth were simple and somewhat less expensive to accomplish (camera tilt, maniquin doubles, inclined planes, film dropping -- easy enough, but well-done), as well as REAL, which gives a sense of immediacy and doesn't let the audience fall away from the story, as the obviousness of digital graphics tend to do.

2. the music -- my favorite song in the film; synthesizer (guiltily admit, love the synthasizer) but with a bit of an ominous beat, and the lyrics completely sum up Jareth's internal struggle as a character (the villain who goes down the wrong path to accomplish what is, ultimately, an admirable goal; that is, try to get someone to fall in love with you).

3. the subject-matter -- i love Escher. he's my favorite artist, and the room of stairs is one of my favorite works of his (am surprised one of my other ones, the self-portrait as reflected in a glass ball, didn't make a referance in the movie, what with Jareth's crystal balls). one day, i want to build a room of stairs from magnetic metal, take it into space, where ther is no gravity, invent electrmagnetic-soled shoes, and walk around in it, on every set of stairs. that would be awesome.

of course, in the end, Sarah realizes Jareth has no power over her, and that she could've taken Toby away at any time (though, if she had, the whole film would've been for naught), just as the clock strikes 13 (but stops at 12 as she ends up in her own home) and Jareth dissolves into his alter-ego of a beautiful white barn owl, and flies out the window. classic movie stuff. she decides it's time for her to grow up a bit, puts away some of her more childish toys (however, leaving the Goblin King figurine out where we can still see it), then all the Labyrinth characters return to Sarah's bedroom for a party (which is classic Jim Henson, but not really a factor i like, it makes me cringe a bit), and we see Jareth's feathered self, still watching Sarah from afar, one last time before the credits roll.



the message of this coming-of-age movie: growing up is dizzying process (unless, like me, you were always perpetually 45 or 7, depending on the day), almost like a maze, but it's the friends we make along the journey that makes it all worthwhile. that, and people don't always have as much power over us as we (or they) think they do.

i love this movie, the sorta steampunk fairy tale images, and (i have to admit) the music, and, really, who could help but love David Bowie? especially in a cape. capes make me happy.

Labyrinth is a wonderful movie, despite the bratty compulsions of the main heroine, and is yet another, i have found, where i prefer the villain to the heroes.

i leave you, at last, with the lyrics to the final song in the movie, in the Escher room:

how you've turned my world

you precious thing

you starve and near-exhaust me

everything i've done, i've done for you

i move the starst for no one

you've run so long

you've run so far

your eyes can be so cruel

just as i can be so cruel

though i do believe in you

yes, i do

live without your sunlight

love without your heartbeat

i, i can't live within you...