Film Review: Labyrinth (1986) - Character Opposites

Labyrinth is a heroes journey style of film where the hero undergoes an adventure and comes out the other end as the master of their world and transcending characteristically also. Sarah played by Jennifer Connelly is the main character for the film and it is her who must undergo the journey. The Goblin King played by David Bowie is her nemesis, it is important to know how characters reflect each other in film, this can be put into relative categories.

Firstly their physical worlds, Sarah occupies a space in a small American town, she lives in her fathers' house with her father and stepmother who has recently had a baby. The Goblin King occupies an illusory world of a castle surrounded by a fantastical labyrinth. these are opposites because one is utterly mundane and the other is utterly whimsical, one is small, one is huge. The town will always remain the small rural town whereas the labyrinth is forever changing in state.

the Characters often have opposing personal views on the world also, Sarah is under the opinion that she is bored with her small town and feels trapped, she is frustrated that she can't seem to escape this mundane world which is blatantly obvious in the opening scene. The goblin King holds the opposite opinion even if it is not specifically mentioned, it is implied, his opinion of the world is that he has ultimate power and control over his world, the ability to shape it in whatever his whim fancies, he has the ability to move freely with the state of the labyrinth, in essence, it is an extension of himself.

Sarah inherits the world of the labyrinth when questing to save her brother from the Goblin Kings spell, her exterior personality is brave but internally she is scared of the unknown, it is like traversing the mind of The Goblin King and she knows it is his to change at will.

Sarahs' character wants adventure away from her boring world space, freedom from her demanding baby stepbrother and her bossy stepmother and excitement other than mundane daily life. The Goblin King wants power, which is exhibited over the labyrinth and through the ability to manipulate Sarah, and inevitably to play games as a form of amusement.

Wants differ from actual needs however, Sarah needs to have a sense of courage to advance in her quest, she needs friendship to stop feeling lonely, and she needs self-worth in order to give her purpose in life. The Goblin King needs power ultimately, this is saught in the form of manipulating and harassing Sarah throughout her quest.

Sarah exhibits a particular persona, which is what we see as an exterior character, it is often that there is an internal persona which balances the character, proving there is generally an opposite within the same character. Sarah appears externally as uncaring, harsh and hot-tempered, we find out through dialogue and acting that the implied persona internally is insecurity, loneliness, sadness and a longing for her fathers love and inclusion. Sarah has flaws which give rise to conflict and tension in the audience, her flaws create metaphorical obstacles which the character must overcome to succeed, Sarah has the flaw of being completely hot-tempered, this is something which she spends the entire rest of the film trying to correct this is known as a major flaw due to its severity of detriment to the character and how much danger it put her in as a consequence. The Goblin King has what is known as a fatal flaw, this is a flaw which ultimately is the entire downfall of the character. This is exhibited as the incessant need to be the trickster, to make bets and do deals, its all a huge game, this means he practically allows Sarah to go unheeded through the Labyrinth instead of simply smiting her and being done with it.

Through the journey Sarah traverses her inner feelings create conflict leading to external change, her character arc goes from beginning the film as Angry and lonely > ending the film joyous and surrounded by friends. There is a major change in Sarah in an early scene, it is the moment her major flaw happens when she says the correct incantation and her brother is taken by the Goblin King, moments later a huge realisation of truth occurs in the character and she wants to undo the wrong instantly, she begins the scene angry and reckless, when the scene is finished she has transcended to regretful and guilty.

The two characters reflect each other almost completely oppositely, is it a constant battle of good and evil, it is important to remember that ultimately the difference between a maze and a labyrinth is that a maze is designed in a way of which there are multiple incorrect paths in order to halt progress, a labyrinth is actually a single path designed to completely disorientate but ultimately they will reach the end if they just keep going, a lesson in perciverance which is a theme through the film and the overriding quality which brings about the success of Sarah.