With a nod to other, similar films of the period - specifically the far darker and less accessible The Dark Crystal - Labyrinth is the one thats stayed in the public consciousness for the last three decades, the story of teenage hero Sarahs quest to journey to the centre of the Labyrinth of the title, confront the Goblin King and free her kidnapped The late David Bowie took a lot of ribbing for that fright wig and those tights tights so tight that they make a photo finish look like a long distance relationship but then his Jareth, the Goblin King is a teenage girls prototypical sexual fantasy, a cobbled together creation concocted from the heroines stories and her dolls, and from dim, unrealised feelings for her mothers boyfriend (also played by Bowie - check out the pictures in her scrapbook). Since this is a Jim Henson movie, its probably not a revelation to say that he was originally looking at making the Goblin King a muppet, before he hit on the idea of appropriating the exoticism (and eroticism) of a mainstream pop star for the part. The productions design incorporates both human and muppet seamlessly: unlike other Henson film that attempt to draw a definitive line between the two, Labyrinth wants you to believe that its animatronics and puppetry is another world: a real other world, not just an eccentric, off the wall part of this one. The film exceeds all expectations by being imaginative, witty and even a little wicked, as well as being just as charming and sappy as you might anticipate a Henson fairytale to be. But its Bowies louche, lonely, dangerous Goblin King that remains the most memorable thing in this extraordinarily memorable film.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
