Movies - The NeverEnding Story

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	Movies - The NeverEnding Story

The NeverEnding Story, or Die Unendliche Geschichte (its German title), is the 1984 film adaptation of the fantasy novel by Michael Ende. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starred Barret Oliver as Bastian Balthazar Bux (named only "Bastian Bux" in the movie), Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, and Tami Stronach as The Childlike Empress. This film adaptation only covered the first half of the book, ending at the point where Bastian enters Fantasia. The majority of the movie was filmed in Germany, except for Barret Oliver's scenes, which were shot in Canada. It was Germany's highest budgeted film of the time. The novel's author, Michael Ende, felt that this adaptation's content deviated so far from his book that he requested they either halt production or change the name; when they did neither, he sued them. He lost the case. He did succeed in having his name removed from the opening credits, although his name does appear in the closing. Music for the movie was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song to the American version of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Limahl, lead singer of Kajagoogoo. This song, along with other "techno-pop" treatments to the soundtrack are not present in the German version of the film, which features Doldinger's score exclusively.

Plot summary

The story begins with Bastian fleeing from bullies from his school and hiding in an antique bookstore. Once inside, he meets an old man named Koreander reading a book. After a discussion on the nature of books, Bastian "borrows" a special book from Koreander, called "The Neverending Story". Bastian believes Koreander was trying to keep him away from this book because it was dangerous, but it's obvious to the viewer that Koreander actually wanted him to take it. The role of the shopkeeper is akin to a keeper of secrets whose purpose is to initiate Bastian into the secret of this book, to help Bastian meet and conquer his fears.

Bastian makes his way to his school; being late he decides to skip class and goes into the school attic to take a look at his special book. From this point on, the movie concentrates on showing us the story Bastian is reading in the book, about a world called Fantasia.

Fantasia is, we learn, under assault by a strange disease or force called 'The Nothing'. We meet three fantastic characters (among which is a Rock-Eater) who are on their way to meet with the Childlike Empress to discuss this menace to their world. Once there, they learn the Empress is sick and dying. Her sickness is apparently linked to the 'Nothing', and the only hope of Fantasia is to send a prophesied hero named Atreyu to find a cure for her. Atreyu was already sent for and arrives, but to everyone's surprise he isn't a great warrior, but only a child apparently of an age with Bastian. Atreyu's culture is apparently similar to that of the Plains Indians, and we see that Bastian has a liking for such characters, thus building a connection between the two of them. Atreyu's journey is built on the model of the Hero archetype.

Atreyu starts his journey, unknowingly being pursued by Gmork, a giant, sentient wolf. His search leads him to find the 'Sage under the hill', Morla. Upon finding this sage, he learns that he doesn't know how to cure the empress, but that the Southern Oracle might. The problem is that it is very far, and Atreyu has lost his horse Artax in the Swamps of Sadness. Just as he is about to fall prey to G'mork, he's rescued by a dragon, Falkor. This dragon is a "luckdragon", following the Eastern mythology of dragons. Falkor brings Atreyu to the Southern Oracle, where he has to cross two trials before being able to speak to the Oracle. The first requires confidence, but the second is supposed to show him his "true self". What he sees, and the description Bastian reads in the book, is an image of Bastian himself reading The Neverending Story in the school attic! This is the first real clue that the story of Bastian and of Atreyu are really interconnected, and that the story of Bastian isn't simply there to give a structure to the story in the book. Bastian at that point also starts to seriously realize the book might be as dangerous as Koreander told him it was, and hesitates before reading along. Here we can interpret the trial of Atreyu as being that of Bastian: it's Bastian who has to defeat his own fear of the book and his involvement in it in order for the quest to continue, not Atreyu, who is only slightly perplexed by the image he sees.

The Southern Oracle finally delivers to Atreyu the information he seeks: in order to cure the Empress, she needs a new name. This name can only be given by a human child, not by a resident of Fantasia. It's not quite obvious why this would be, and is only made clear later once we learn more about the nature of Fantasia. The Oracle informs Atreyu he can only find such a child beyond the limits of Fantasia. He sets out with Falkor to cross those, but they encounter the 'Nothing' which has been getting stronger, and are separated. Atreyu ends on the shores of a sea in the ruins of a city where he sees frescoes depicting his own story, including a part he doesn't know about: G'mork. This sequence is open to some interpretation. It is not obvious if the paintings were done by people who knew of his quest and observing him, even though the last painting shows an event which happens just after he sees those paintings. It might have been part of a prophecy hinted at the beginning of the movie. It could also hint at another level of intricacy in the story.

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Movies - The NeverEnding Story

Plot summary

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