Reviews / 11 October 2006

Labyrinth

Labyrinth
UK / USA  /  1986

Whether 5 or 15, girls are always acting so grown-up. Wendy sews shadows and mothers the Lost Boys while Peter runs off to play and never, ever grow old (hence the lack of a Wendy Darling Syndrome in our modern lexicon). Often it’s desired, as many girls seek out signifiers of maturity in make-up and high heels, but often it feels like societal convention stemmed from the obvious fact that girls physically mature faster, and should therefore shun childish habits and beliefs at an earlier age than boys.

Sarah does not want to grow up; in fact, Sarah, the heroine of Labyrinth, is a bratty, impertinent girl who not only resents her baby brother Toby, but wishes he would disappear into the Goblin Kingdom, and, well, he does. When we first meet Sarah, she is reciting lines from a play, dressed up as an Arthurian maiden and late for baby-sitting. Sarah prefers to inhabit her imagination, and reality is slowly seeping in; annoyed by her lateness, Sarah’s stepmother chides her for not being responsible, and arbitrarily asks Sarah why she isn’t dating yet. Sarah doesn’t want to grow up, and in the course of Labyrinth is faced with not only this challenge, but the task of rescuing her brother from the Goblin King, who has given Sarah 13 hours to reach his castle in the center of a massive labyrinth.

Portraying the Goblin King is glam-rock icon David Bowie, who aside from adding the musical soundtrack, exudes an enigmatic, sensual air; Bowie is undeniably foxy in his shiny black and silver spandex, but seems rather intimidating for minors, an effect that is easily read on Sarah’s confused, doubting face when the Goblin King attempts to woo her during a Venetian Ball fantasy. There is an abundance of sexual unease in Labyrinth; Sarah falls down a rabbit hole where an array of bodiless human hands holds, pushes, and mildly caresses her during the trip down, while jealousy arises from the Goblin King when Sarah kisses Hoggle. If this is Sarah’s nightmare, then her struggle against the Goblin King is easily read as her own increasing fear of sexuality; the King’s seductive approach to encroaching Sarah, rather than an overtly frightening one, ties into her simultaneous fear and attraction to him.

Much more of a fantastical film than ever becoming truly scary, Labyrinth is director Jim Henson’s first attempt at introducing Muppets into the human world. On her journey to the Goblin city, Hoggle, a crass dwarf, aids Sarah, along with a few other furry creatures, many of whom can be spotted in inanimate form at the beginning of the film in Sarah’s bedroom. These characters are sweet and affable, but lack some of the dynamism present in The Dark Crystal. The goblins stand out however, not only in their creepy look and sheer number, but also in the inventive decision by Henson to have the creatures operate the larger, more menacing monsters; when Sarah and her friends reach the Goblin city and are stopped by an enormous gatekeeper, it is easily undone after they reveal the single small goblin operating the beast.

Labyrinth is in the end a fairy tale; Sarah learns the false security of materialism, not to take so much for granted, and that very often, life simply isn’t fair. Rejecting the Goblin King in asserting her own power, Sarah returns to her bedroom with Toby safely in his crib, and seems torn between her newfound maturity and the fantasy she has left behind. However, as it is ever in the world of Jim Henson, Sarah refuses to give up all of her imagination, embracing her future while keeping her stuffed animals at hand, even if tucked away in the closet.

Comments / 3 total / Submit Comment

  1. Ladd W
    12 October 2006
    7:54 AM

    Nice review, although I thought you could have spoken more about the sheer craft and inginuity the partnership of Henson, the Creature Shop, and illustrator Brian Froud produced, Labyrinth being their second film together since the equally stunning and much darker film, The Dark Crystal. I agree, there is a smattering of sexual immaturity in this film, the conflict between Sarah’s knowledge of her impending adulthood, yet her inability to fully embrace it. Much like Dorothy and her Kansas farmstead, the real world is insufferable and provides little inspiration for Sarah’s Medieval fantasies. But once Sarah crosses through the looking glass in the arcane world of the Labyrinth, her imagination hosts characters already familiar to her (the stuffed animals in her room), yet the wonderland of the Labyrinth also manifests the very mystery and enchantment she dreams of in the real world. The Labyrinth ultimately proves the gauntlet where she must find herself in the process of finding her brother. And like the Wizard of OZ, Sarah, like Dorothy, realizes that she never lost anything in the first place, but more or less found herself, and what she was missing could all be found within herself in the sanctity of her own room. Even with the final scene, where all of Sarah’s friends from the Labyrinth return for an impromptu McDonald’s birthday party in her bedroom, it’s as if Henson is almost suggesting that despite whatever heavy-handed life lesson we learn, we can never loose a sense of child-like spontaneity, to instigate fun the fellowship of creativity and imagation at every corner. Like all great stories and films that both begin and end where they started, the Labyrinth is an apt metaphor for the complications and challenges that arise in between. My dad took me to see The Labyrinth when it came out in theatres, so I count myself very fortunate to be a part of that generation that was able to experience the magic of Jim Henson during his lifetime. Labyrinth cetainly stands as one of Henson’s masterpieces. …And Bowie’s soundtrack still rocks 20 years later!

  2. Jenny
    12 October 2006
    10:19 AM
    Website

    Bowie does rock. It is hard to imagine Sting or Michael Jackson in that role, both considered along with Bowie by Henson.

    I appreciate the Wizard comments and definitely see the connection, along with some obvious Alice in Wonderland references. However, while Sarah seems perfectly content to return “home,” I never quite believed that Dorothy – let alone anybody – would be happy to return to Kansas. Sure, the treacly metaphor is there, but really, the impoverished farm with guardians who won’t even help her get Toto back from nasty Ms. Gulch over the Yellow Brick Road?

    There are far more developed (and hilarious) thoughts on this by Salman Rushdie in his BFI on The Wizard of Oz, which, not so coincidentally, I reread this morning on my way to work. In short, Rushdie remarks on Dorothy’s return: “Well, excuse me Glinda, but it is hell.”

  3. Ladd W
    14 October 2006
    11:03 AM

    Jenny,

    Another thing I was thinking of is Sarah’s material possessions, and how many of the items and pictures, books, stuffed animals in her room correspond to some idea, character, or theme in the movie. I mentioned it in my comment, but never expounded on it, so here goes… An interesting thing that occurs is the scene right before Sarah enters the Goblin City, where she finds herself strangely and suddenly transported back to her room, away from the nightmares of the Labyrinth. Then the memorable “Junk Lady” burts in, carrying a large burden of junk on her back, and Sarah is forced to confront the nessecity of her material belongings. But by the end of the film (and this may be one of flaws of the film, an underdeveloped theme), it seems Sarah never really full rejects the things and material wealth that populates her room. I think I remember seeing a copy of the Wizard of OZ in plain sight between a pair of book ends in Sarah’s room. I’ve seen the film many times, but not recently, so my memory might not serve too well, but it’s a possibility.

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Credits

Directed by
Jim Henson

Review by
Jenny Jediny

Source
Columbia / Tristar DVD

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