Labyrinth

Oh boy, was this a blast from the past. Being that most of the students in this class are 90's children, I am almost positive that I'm not the only one who found this movie to be extremely nostalgic. I grew up with this film, so being able to refresh my mind with its fantastic and original story and imagery was really amazing. The film is a coming of age story set in a world hugely different from our own. We follow Sarah, a young girl left to watch over her baby half-brother, as she makes her way through a series of tests and obstacles within a labyrinth created by the Goblin King Jareth. Seeking to recover her brother, whom she wished away in anger and frustration, Sarah meets a wide cast of characters and learns a bit about herself and life in the process. This film is nothing compared to the CG and animation of present day, but in its own way captures the magic it portrays in a way films of today just don't. Under harder scrutiny though, Labyrinth possess a plethora of common themes and lessons found in fantasy films of the era, and this one focuses on coming of age. Through the trials and obstacles Sarah encounters, she is forced into adulthood. The strange thing I can say I noticed, is the fact that she seems to be so absorbed in a fantasy world from the beginning, which in a way is something that you can say held her back, and yet it is a world of magic and fantasy that ended up being the catalyst she needed to kick start her maturity. We started the film with her reading a book, lines from which she recites throughout the movie, a book about goblins and such not much unlike what the movie seems to be about. It is here that we see the reflection of the world of the labyrinth, the world that provided her the reason and lessons to grow up, to become an adult and leave her childhood behind. All together, an amazing movie, just as good as I remember it being.