Movie – The neverending story

Movie – The neverending story 
Original title : Die unendliche Geschichte 

Score : 7/10 

Year : 1984 

Director:  Wolfgang Petersen

Cinematography: Jost Vacano

Music: Klaus Doldinger

Country: West Germany. USA 

Language: English

Duration: 1h42 (we saw the international 1h34 cut) 

Writers:  Wolfgang Petersen & Herman Weigel (screenplay) ; 
Robert Easton (additional dialogues) 
Michael Ende (Novel) 
Full cast (IMDB) 

Although I may have seen this movie many  years ago, it took me all this time to watch it again, as an adult. 

Bastian is troubled. His mother died, his father isn't really supportive - he's actually even ridiculing his son's grief - and he's bullied at school. Hiding from his tormentors, he wanders into an odd bookshop, and dives into a book he cannot put down...In it, wondrous and amazing creatures inhabit a dying world, called Fantasia (not to be confused with the Disney movie of the that title) and an odd interaction builds between him and the story he's reading. 

This is only the second Wolfgang Petersen movie that I watched and loved - the other is Enemy Mine, released in 1985, a year after the neverending story. His touch is felt and seen, in the imagery. He co-wrote the screenplay, based on a novel. The story doesn't belittle the viewer, as it depict sad, even tragic events, including death. 
Psychological aspects, such as depression. are shown or portrayed through dialogues. 

Cinematography holds more or less, but some of the creatures- and effects- look cheap,  as they most probably were ; after all, this is an indie movie, and Petersen didn't have the disposal of Henson's studios for better puppets. 

My favorite characters are the rock biter, Falkor, Morla and the empress, in that order, more or less. I liked that it wasn't a stereotype "boy meet girl" or "boy saves girl'' story, but that it was more complex in construction and solution. 

Just like The Dark crystal, this neverending story has several unique elements, including the universe in which it takes place, not using or rehashing the same exact tales from everywhere, thus making its creatures and resolution more original than many other movies. 

Music is rather good, not falling into ridicule, usually fitting the action and drama. The international edition we watched includes Limahl's song of the same title - though I heard it's not present on the German original release (?).

Despite being a ''children's movie", I enjoyed and fount it entertaining - and with a certain depth that is also present. It doesn't depict squealing kids or some goody-goody family values in a trope that I hate watching, which is a really good thing about this film. It's not just a movie, it has an artistic quality, and it's storytelling is interesting. 
A few elements didn't age well, but the film is otherwise quite good and a must see.

Of note, there is no animal cruelty.