I’m starting a new strand on my site called Amazing Bits From Films You Might Know And Love Like I Do!  I’ve been tardy of late in updates but I was earning myself much welcomed cash with The A-Z Of Kirkland Ciccone and rewriting a manuscript in an attempt to please a commissioning editor.  You would assume my fingers had no energy in them to type anything else.  You would be wrong!

This is how it works: I choose a scene from a movie that means a lot to me, I talk about it briefly, I post a clip which you can watch if you want, though you aren’t obligated to do so, and hopefully you come to love the movie as much as I do.

Hurrah!  Now I shall start with…

Amazing Bits From Films You Might Know And Love Like I Do! (Part One)

Labyrinth (1986) 

Labyrinth was the critically maligned final project of Jim Henson completed before his untimely death.  It came to the cinema after the technically proficient but ultimately unsatisfying Dark Crystal and featured some of the most immensely talented people in pop culture; how can you go wrong with the likes of Henson, Terry Jones, David Bowie and Dennis Lee?  Sometime during the initial stages of Labyrinth, Jim decided that The Dark Crystal, as spectacular as it was, lacked some kind of star power.  He decided with Labyrinth to correct that mistake and David Bowie was summoned to become Jareth The Goblin King.

What followed was an uneven but strangely brilliant cult film that whole generations have taken to heart.  It shouldn’t work but there’s a real sense of joy in this film.  It appeals to me on so many levels; it can be a nice little adventure movie, a David Bowie star vehicle, or a thoughtful reflective puppet film about growing up. 

The lead character (played by Jennifer Connelly before she was chased by The Hulk and flexing her serious acting muscles with Sir Ben Kingsley) is initially unlikeable and bratty.  She literally wishes away her young brother and as a result has to venture into a labyrinth to find him.  During her quest, she meets lots of wonderful friends, and lots of rod powered fiends.  She wins her quest and takes her brother back home which leads to the scene I’ve chosen for Amazing Bits From Films You Might Know And Love Like I Do!

The Scene

The conclusion of the film.  Click to 01.15 and press play.

Sarah has defeated Jareth and it is time to come home and grow up.  But she sees her friends in the mirror, all of those creatures she met during her journey, and tells them that every now and then she needs them.  Isn’t that wonderful?  We grow up but there will always be a part of us that loves adventures and excitement and fun and imagination.  Basically, Sarah is the kind of girl who watches Labyrinth and loves it.  But the best bit comes next; she turns around and all of her friends are there!  They’ve thrown a party for her.  David Bowie is outside her window, disguised as an owl.  He flies away to make some albums.  Wonderful. 

I used to dream of having Ludo appear in my room and punch the walls away so I could fit a giant shelf in for my Doctor Who collection.  It would be like that BBC TV show Johnny And The Witch except Kirkland & Ludo.  Imagine our whimsical adventures!

Next Time: The Craft