The NeverEnding Story
Even though I love movies immensely, they can never compare to the
experience I get when reading a good book. So when a movie was made about the
power of books, inspiring kids to read more and put down those silly video
games, we got the best of both worlds.
“The NeverEnding Story” is
one of those rare movies that seems to have transcended any particular era or
generation. Although made in 1984, it’s still as relevant today as it was
then, given it’s a timeless tale of the importance of storytelling to protect
our hopes and dreams, but most of all, the power of the imagination.
As the film starts, its
signature song of the same title performed by Limahl fades in and never left
our memory after the first time we heard it. Playing along beautifully to a
changing sky of clouds that take on every shape and form, the song, like its movie,
went onto to become a major hit. Listening to it now, brings back the memory of
this film, and the 80’s, in a very special way.
The story takes us into the
life of young Bastian; a quiet and well-behaved boy who lives in a world of
books. He reads vivaciously in his spare time, when not trying desperately to
get his dad’s attention after the passing of his mother, or spend his school
days outrunning the local bullies. His dad should be the centre of Bastian’s
world, but the man couldn’t be any more distant from his son. So time and time
again, Bastian escapes into his stories. So much so, it affects his attention
and performance at school. He’s a daydreamer; always late for school and known
by his class mates as The Wierdo.
On just another school
morning, trying to outrun the bullies, Bastian hides out in an old bookshop.
Greeted unpleasantly by the stores owner who thinks he’s just another punk kid,
Bastian defends himself and claims he loves books just as much as the grumpy
old man sitting in the chair and smoking his pipe. At the time they meet, the
old man is reading a book he describes to the boy as “Something Special”.
Comparing the books Bastian would normally read as safe, he gets the boys curiosity, but
refuses to let Bastian read the book for himself. So the boy does the next best
thing. When the old man gets up to answer the phone, Bastian takes a peak and
sees the book is called The NeverEnding Story. He grabs it, runs out of the
store, and is watched by the old man who gives him a small smile through the
window. With the mysterious book in his possession, Bastian runs off to school,
skips class to hide out in the attic and starts to read…
As he narrates, his eyes
widening as the words leap off the page, we are then magically transported into
another world. Characters pop up out of the ground, or hang upside down from
trees and converse in a forest. They talk about how a strange force seems to be
literally eating up their world. Their world is called Fantasia, but this force
is simply called, The Nothing.
In the heart of Fantasia is The Ivory Tower; a shining,
glimmering white tower of rock, that stands tall over the land as a beacon of
hope and prosperity. Inside this tower lives the Childlike Empress. A gathering
is taking place, where characters of every face and type imaginable meet to
discuss The Nothing, which for some reasons is causing the Empress to become
ill, and get sicker as The Nothing gets stronger. The council announces their
only hope of survival lies in the hands of a warrior, called Atreyu.
Bastian reads all of this, enthralled with the story he’s
being told. He discovers Atreyu carried a brave heart, as well as all the hopes
of Fantasia. Just a little boy himself, the council were not aware he was so
young. Not taken seriously at first, Atreyu threatens to leave, but is beckoned
back by the council to go on a quest, to prove he is the warrior they called
for. His Quest – to find a cure for the Empress and to save the world of
Fantasia. He must go alone, with no weapons, much danger, and unknown chances
of success. If Atreyu fails, the Empress will die and Fantasia will be
destroyed by The Nothing. Quite the quest for a 12 year old, but the brave
young tyke simply responds with “When do I begin?”
Atreyu rides through one beautiful location after another,
and it is this aspect of The NeverEnding Story that makes it stand out as one
of the most beautifully creative and inventive kid’s films of all time. The
lands in which the story takes place are rich in themes, and are named for
exactly what they mean. For example the Swamps of Sadness is a muddy, dank and
depressing place, that if you let it’s sadness get to you, will pull you down
into it’s dark depths. When Atreyu loses his beloved horse Artex, this is still
the most heartbreaking part of this movie, if not any movie ever made. Atreyu
cries, Bastian cries into the pages, and we cry along with them. As promised,
Atreyu’s Quest will test him in every gruelling and dangerous way
imaginable.
Atreyu presses on, walking through fields of thick mud and
dirty water, tired, beaten and unaware a killer beast is hunting him down. But
salvation comes from the sky, in the form of a large, white, flying beast. It
pulls Atreyu out of the mud just before he sinks, and just before the beast
tries to nab him. The young warrior boy awakens, clean and apparently miles
away from where he was. His saviour, the white, flying beast, is the brave and
friendly Falkor. Referring to himself as a Luck Dragon, he keeps a watchful red
eye open for Atreyu from here on, instilling his message “Never give up, and
good luck will find you”.
The NeverEnding story triumphs in it’s adaptation from
novel to film, made with so much creativity, care and love it’s
like watching a book come to life on screen. Inventive and original at every
turn, each character has its own quirks, movements and motives; all inhabiting
their place in Fantasia with a special part to play in Atreyu’s quest. Each
scene also plays its own important part in the telling of the story. Rather
than just being one location or situation after another, every scene the film
jumps to helps in telling the story. Watching The NeverEnding story for the
first time, you would have been amazed by the seamless flow of pure imagination
and authentic creativity, as we quickly move along and witness a cavalcade of
colourful creatures and characters. All these years later and after many views,
it still amazes me.
The two characters of Bastian
and Atreyu are central to the narrative of the film. Where as Bastian is the
boy who day dreams and lives through the characters in his books, Atreyu is the
character we live through as he plays out the story of the book. However, it is
Bastian who gives Atreyu his strength as his journey continues, when the young
warrior has to work his way through one dangerous challenge after another. It
is this clever narrative that draws you in, instead of distancing you, from
this brilliant piece of story telling. The NeverEnding story carries many
strong messages throughout. It’s about facing your fears. Atreyu must face all
his fears on his perilous journey, while Bastian must face the fear of reading
a book which is more real than anything else he’s ever experienced. But in
facing his fears, and continuing to read, he gives life to Atreyu who can also
face his fears as he is guided through the story by Bastian.
As the story
reveals, Fantasia is the manifestation of the fantasies of mankind; all it’s
hopes and all it’s dreams. But as humanity in the real world starts to lose its
hopes and dreams, the world of Fantasia will be no more, thus is why The
Nothing gets stronger and continues to destroy this world. And even as The
Nothing takes most of Fantasia away, plunging it into eternal darkness and
emptiness, The Ivory Tower remains intact. Therein remains Fantasia’s Childlike
Empress, clinging onto her last lease of life after The Nothing has made her
very ill. However dire her situation is, she remains strong and understanding,
commending Atreyu for achieving his quest. She speaks of the one who can save
them, the Earthling child. And Atreyu brought the human with him. That human
was Bastian, and as he reads this story, which seems to now include him in its
pages. Bastian can’t believe what’s happening, as the book speaks directly to
him. And as long as Bastian refuses to accept he could be the one to save
Fantasia, The Nothing will take over.
Once he finds his courage to live his dreams,
Bastian enters Fantasia and meets the Empress. She gives him the gift of making
as many wishes as he wants. After Bastian brings Fantasia back from The
Northing, he goes for a ride on Falkor, and then gets some help to take care of
those pesky bullies who gave him so much grief. Scaring the crap out of them,
and an entire city, as they fly over the streets, Bastian and Falkor take care
of the naughty kids. And before he returns to the real world, Bastian makes a
few more wishes and goes on new adventures back in Fantasia… but that’s another
story.
The
NeverEnding holds its place in the movies of my childhood, with much admiration
and fond memories. It would always make me want to read a really good book
after watching the movie, and yell at the characters in the book, telling them
to “Watch Out!” or “Keep going…” as I was so engrossed in their journey. Aside
from my childhood, The NeverEnding Story has its place in movie history.
Considered a classic by many, and loved by most, it’s a film that people hold
dear in their hearts. It was given to me in the eighties, and I believe I
introduced my nephew to it about twenty years later. And in the years to come,
I know I will show it to my children, and share a very special film with them
that I believe teaches kids the following message;
“Reading is
fun. Nothing can replace your imagination. And life’s greatest adventures are
not just contained within the confines of a book, but in your own dreams. So go
out there and live the life of your dreams”
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