MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | LABYRINTH
- michaelbrand01
- Dec 12, 2023
- 2 min read
Been looking forward to this read ever since I started my weekly script quest…LABYRINTH!
Plot in a nutshell: Surprised when her wish to have her crying baby brother taken away by the supposedly imaginary Goblin King is actually granted, Sarah is given the chance to get him back. All she has to do is reach the centre of the Goblin Kings maze in 13 hours. Otherwise her baby brother becomes one of the goblins, forever...
One of my gold standard, watched-it-every-day-for-a-year, childhood classics. Got the T-shirt, the mug, the soundtrack (in my top 5 greatest ever soundtracks) and the toys! But what of the script?
Well, I’m pretty sure the version I read is an early draft. No written draft indicators, but the first thirty pages only roughly resemble the end piece. Throughout the script there are changes to some of the characters that are SO major (Hoggle gets drunk, the wise man is basically a walking dictionary and Jareth's entrance is that of a theatre director seeking an actress for his next big play, but to name a few), this has to be an early draft. The omission alone of the giant goblin robot at the climax of the film was a huge surprise!
However, the characters are there and the script certainly flows. The action directions, whilst elegiac, are a little too long winded. But you can tell this was written by one of the geniuses behind Monty Python and the wackiness is certainly all over the page. The world is full of inviting imagery and there is more than enough to spark a producers imagination. All in all, a gentle pleasure, but I think the film will always hold better for me.
So, what did I learn from LABYRINTH?
How to put characters breaking into song into a script. Even though I have no wish to ever write a musical (though never say never), if I did, this is certainly a great start;
“INT. Castle - Day
Jareth snaps his fingers and a group of sleepy musicians stumble over themselves in the corner to get to their instruments. They begin to play and Jareth looks out of the window and begins to sing a song. He sings about the Labyrinth. What it is - his domain, and what it is to others - a test, a proving ground. Not for the faint of heart.”
That for me is a lovely, simple way to introduce a song. What its purpose is, its potential content and the characters state of mind for singing in the first place. Fascinating and yet sweet.
So thankyou again to this endearing work for teaching me something new and hopefully helping other folk too
The quest continues...
Link to the script;
Comments