I remember watching The Neverending Story as a little kid (on BETA, remember that?) and I thought it was a good film. The other day I watched it again and, neato beano, I realized it was pretty gosh darn deep. So here’s some of the deep dialogue. Like he way the novel was printed, what takes place in reality is printed in red text and that which takes place in "Fantastia" is printed in green.
"Brave warrior! Then fight the Nothing!"
"I can’t! I can’t get beyond the boundaries of Fantastia.....What’s so funny about that?"
"Fantastica has no boundaries."
"That’s not true! Your lying!"
"Foolish boy. Don’t you know anything about Fantastia? It is the world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature of it is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind. Therefore it has no boundary."
"But why is Fantastia dying then?"
"Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So the Nothing grows stronger."
"What is the Nothing?"
"It is the emptiness that is left. It is like a despair destroying this world, and I have been trying to help it."
"But why?"
"Because people who have no hope are easy to control."
"Atreyu, why do you look so sad?"
"I have failed you, Empress."
"No. You haven’t. You brought him with you."
"Who?"
"The Earthling child, the one who can save us all."
"You know about the Earthling child?"
"Of course. I knew everything."
"My horse died! I nearly drown! I just barely got away from the Nothing! For what?! To find out what you already knew?"
"It was the only way to get in touch with an Earthling."
"But I didn’t get in touch with an Earthling!"
"Yes, you did. He has suffered with you. He went through everything you went through. And now he has come here, with you. He is very close, listening to every word we say."
"WHAT?!"
"Where is he? If he’s so close why doesn’t he arrive?"
"He doesn’t realize he’s already a part of the neverending story."
"The neverending story? What’s that?"
"Just as he is sharing all of your adventures, others are sharing his. They were with him when he hid from the boys in the bookstore."
"But that’s impossible!"
"They were with him when he took the book with the Auryn symbol on the cover, in which he’s reading his own story, right now."
"I can’t believe it. They can’t be talking about me."
"What will happen if he doesn’t appear?"
"Then our world will disappear, and so will i."
"How can he let that happen?"
"He doesn’t understand that he’s the one who has the power to stop it. He simply can’t imagine that one little boy could be that important."
"Is it really me?"
"Maybe he doesn’t know what he has to do!"
"What do I have to do?!"
"He has to give me a new name. He’s already chosen it. He just has to call it out."
"But its only a story. Its not real. Its only a story!"
© 1999 ~*~ mel ~*~
