Labyrinth (Movie 1986)

Over the weekend I decided to revisit what has become a cult classic, the movie Labyrinth. It was released in 1986 and had 2 creative geniuses involved in its making- Jim Henson and David Bowie. At this point Jim Henson had already begun to tap into the darker side of his creativity with The Dark Crystal which came out in 1982. He was bringing forth stories that were ominous compared to the lighthearted Muppets but still were accessible to young people. The movie Labyrinth presents us with the story of a hero’s journey like from mythological tales of old. Our hero is a teenage girl, Sarah, played by a very young Jennifer Connelly. Sarah likes to pretend and live in her own little fantasy world and is not happy when the responsibility of looking after her baby brother intrudes. She creates her own trouble when she wishes out loud that the Goblin King from the book she recreates scenes from would take him away forever. He is real and he is listening. And like that the baby is gone from his crib and before Sarah is Jareth, The Goblin King in the form of David Bowie. He lets her know now she can go play and do what she wants. But now all she wants is her baby brother. The only way she can get him back is to go through the expanse of the Labyrinth to The Goblin King’s castle. However, she only has 13 hours to do it before little Toby becomes a goblin. Her quest as we see will not just lead her to her brother but finally into adulthood and the lessons that come with it. In one scene she yells at Jareth “That’s not fair!” He replies back “You say that so often, I wonder what your basis for comparison is.” Another scene has a creature burdened down with material things and she begins to pile Sarah’s possessions onto Sarah until she realizes what is happening. She throws them off and continues on to find what really matters which is her brother, Toby. When Hoggle, a goblin she has befriended along the way, hinders her progress because of his fear of Jareth, she learns sometimes we have to forgive. David Bowie as The Goblin King can be menacing and seductive. When I saw this movie all those years ago I have to admit was the first time I found David Bowie powerfully sexy. I melt every time I see the ballroom scene. Forget the baby brother, he could kidnap me. Jim Henson gave Bowie a lot of freedom with writing his own dialogue for the picture. And of course he wrote and performed the fantastic songs for the soundtrack. It is sad that both Henson and Bowie are gone but we have this wonderful masterpiece to still watch where both of their incredible talents came together.