LABYRINTH (1986)

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *metaphysical, psychological*


I remember liking LABYRINTH fairly well back in the eighties, but I find now that its potentially mythopoeic story-- that of a young girl entering the world of Faerie, trying to recover her brother from the King of Goblins-- to be seriously undercooked.

During my recent re-watch, I felt that two aspects of the story's theme conflicted with one another. On one hand, we begin with viewpoint character Sarah, a 15-year old modern American teenager (played by Jennifer Connelly, 14 at the time). Yet Sarah's concerns don't seem like those of a 15-year-old. She reads fantasy-books about goblins, and is jealous of her toddler-brother Toby, not least because Toby has inherited all of her old toys. Though some other issues are suggested-- Sarah's mother is apparently deceased, and a stepmother has taken her place-- Sarah seems to act like a much younger child, especially when she shows her pique by wishing the goblins to abduct Toby. Goblin King Jareth (David Bowie) happens to be hovering around listening, and he grants her wish. When she tried to take back the wish, Jareth challenges her to pass through his labyrinth and to beard him in his lair, to see if she can take back her brother. After many twisty adventures in director Jim Henson's version of faerie-- in which most of the otherworld's inhabitants are, logically enough, simulated by "muppetry" effects-- Sarah eventually succeeds in her quest and returns home with Toby.

The Wikipedia writeup on LABYRINTH suggests the possibility that one or more of the persons involved in scripting-- not necessarily the credited writer Terry Jones-- may have subconsciously emulated Maurice Sendak's OUTSIDE OVER THERE, in which a 9-year-old girl is subjected to a similar brother-napping. The filmmakers admitted a possible indebtedness in a roundabout way, by including an end-credit praising the works of Sendak. Without jumping to any conclusions, I will note that the initiating events of the plot sound perfect for a moody 9-year-old, not yet ready to surrender her childhood to her more junior competitor. But the opening scenario really never works for a 15-year-old, just as Sarah's desire to befriend the quirky inhabitants of the dream-world would also resonate better for a younger child.

On the other hand, Jareth's motives for stealing Toby make a lot more sense, given that the film gives very veiled suggestions that his real purpose is to bring Sarah into his world and seduce her. Henson and Jones tread very carefully here, in part because Henson wanted to keep things lighter than his previous effort THE DARK CRYSTAL. Nevertheless, while there aren't any good mythic moments during Sarah's labyrinthine journey, her interactions with Jareth have an appealing eroticism, not least thanks to Bowie's androgynous appearance.

At the same time, Bowie, while he displayed a great penchant for flamboyant strutting and posing, didn't show a lot of acting panache. Connelly, though, makes up for Bowie's shortcomings, and her winsomeness is probably what worked most for me when I first viewed the film. But on this viewing, she and her goofy muppet-faerie friends just didn't hold up anymore.