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Jennifer connelly space age love song2/20/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Yet it's also ostensibly a children's movie, and Henson tempers the story's darker elements with plenty of silly humor. Labyrinth is definitely more Dark Crystal than Sesame Street. ![]() Unseen creatures slink through the periphery of Sarah's vision, and vast, unfamiliar landscapes stretch endlessly into the distance, adding to the alien atmosphere. Henson creates an expansive world full of odd, disquieting beings - moss adorned with eyeballs, beautiful fairies with a vicious bite, beaky swamp dwellers that pluck out their own eyeballs and swallow them. Much of Labyrinth has the vibe of a particularly vivid dream the slow-motion falls and ouroboric logic evoke that sludgy, slow-dawning realization that you're asleep and can't quite control what's happening. The film's bizarre, hyper-detailed visuals are a testament to Henson's skill In the face of such unabashed '80s excess, it's hard to care so much about the details of the plot. He sings, he dances, he throws fake babies in the air and juggles crystal balls and mostly interacts with puppets. These are all valid questions, but they vanish in the face of Bowie's be-mulleted, spandex-wrapped perfection. This movie raises so many questions: How did David Bowie become the supreme ruler of a goblin kingdom? Why can he transform into an owl? Isn't there an easier way to grow the goblin population than stealing human babies? Why can't Sarah remember a line as simple as, "You have no power over me"? Sarah must make her way through the maze with the help of the weirdo residents she encounters within it, and along the way learns important lessons about friendship, independence, and the misfortune of being attracted to a man whose pants are tighter than yours. The Goblin King (whose name, by the way, is Jareth) transports Sarah to his labyrinth and gives her 13 hours to find her way to his castle and rescue her brother if she fails, he threatens, Toby will become a goblin forever. One night while babysitting, Sarah wishes to the "goblin king" that Toby would disappear - and he does, earning Sarah a visit from the actual Goblin King (Bowie, resplendent in a feathered mullet wig and frosted eye shadow). Let's recap the plot: Petulant teenager Sarah (a 14-year-old Jennifer Connelly, in her fourth film role) lives in a fantasy world but is constantly being dragged back to earth by the dreary realities of her life - including her perpetually wailing baby half-brother, Toby. None of it should make a scrap of sense - yet somehow it works within its own strange, singular genre. The movie is a dark, semi-musical, glam-rock children's movie that seems to combine The Wizard of Oz and a Maurice Sendak story and stars David Bowie plus a cavalcade of puppets. In honor of this bizarre film, and Bowie, who passed away in January at the age of 69, let's look back at the glorious weirdness that began its life as box office flop and has since become a beloved cult classic. That's three decades of wondering how a film that combined Jim Henson and David Bowie (plus some truly terrible CGI) not only got made but went on to become one of both men's most memorable projects. Labyrinth, a dark children's movie about a baby-stealing Goblin King and the teenage girl who outwits him, turns 30 on June 27. ![]()
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