The NeverEnding Story (1984) Directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Starring: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach. IMDB says: “A troubled boy dives into a wonderous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.”
When I was 6, maybe 7, I popped in a VHS copy of The NeverEnding Story and I was captivated and intrigued. I was introduced to the world of Fantasia and it’s savior Atreyu. We traveled Swamps of Sadness, felt something weird inside when meeting The Southern Oracle, and somehow broke the fourth wall? But as I rewatched this film as an adult, I couldn’t fathom how I was able to make an emotional connection at all. I also realized that this film is superbly depressing and probably planted the seeds of my depression, which I watered with repeat viewings of this film.
But I digress; directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Air Force One, Perfect Storm, Troy… I promise I’m not making that up) The NeverEnding Story is about a boy named Bastian Balthazaur Bux (played by Barret Oliver who didn’t really stick with acting), who is coping with the recent loss of his mother. He doesn’t fit in at school and he’s frequently bullied. One day, to escape his adversaries, Bastian takes shelter in a bookstore and discovers The NeverEnding Story. After stealing it (don’t worry, he’ll return the book) he hides in the attic of his school and his real adventure begins. From there we meet a goblin-looking guy, someone named “Teeny” (played by Deep Roy, friend/muse of Tim Burton) a giant rock monster riding a car made of rocks, and an endless amount of creatures that looked as if they jumped out of some weird avant-garde German expressionist painting. These inhabitants of Fantasia are truly the stuff of nightmares. (Now I realize why I had night terrors as a child) The film really takes off when we are introduced to Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), the warrior of the Plainspeople (who hunt purple buffalo) who is tasked with saving Fantasia from The Nothing, a mysterious force destroying the world. As a child, I remember this movie being much more mystifying and investing, but as an adult, this movie is very disjointed with zero emotional depth. Atreyu’s quest is never fully explained so he travels from location to location and we really have no idea why. It’s almost like we’re expected to know the five W’s and the H even when we don’t have the proper context. Even the villain, a huge wolf named Gmork, is lazily tossed in with a line from the narrator.
This film does play with the fourth wall as Bastian slowly begins to realize how important he is to The NeverEnding Story and the ultimate fate of Fantasia. It’s well done but at times it feels complicated, even though it shouldn’t be. I think what complicates it are the overly blatant parallels of Bastians life with Atreyu’s and how on-the-nose-existential the film gets. It gets really heady towards the end as the characters start to talk abut how the world is dying because people have no hope and we need more dreamers to keep it alive. I’m all for that, but you have to find a better, more subtle delivery method. I was 6, maybe 7 drinking YooHoo and eating Pop-Tarts, I can’t handle that. The overall poor acting and dialogue of the film doesn’t help convey the message either. It’s just bad. The effects, while definitely VERY 80s, don’t hold up to today’s smorgasbord of CGI, but it does add to the charm of the film. The music, also very 80s, is still super cheesy, except for when Atreyu and his horse Artax traverse the Swamps of Sadness. I still sob like an absolute child when that happens. I don’t understand it. I shouldn’t feel that way. Here is a character we just met, we don’t know him, and within MINUTES (SPOILER ALERT) he loses his best friend and faithful companion Artax and I am devastated and reduced to a blubbering mess. (END OF SPOILERS)
This is definitely a film people will enjoy and continue to enjoy (to a degree) if they saw it as a child. Adults that are coming into this movie with no prior knowledge could view this movie as a strewn about humorless and dreary mess, but if they have hope, and are able to fight the sadness, they might walk away thinking it was alright.
