The reason why the author of The Neverending Story hated the film: “They haven’t understood anything”

For many kids of the 80s, The never ending story It was something like his harry potter either the lord of the rings particular. One of those fantastic films that mark childhood and that are not forgotten later just like that. In fact, the film directed by Wolfgang Petersen remains one of the favorites of those who were children at the time of its release.

Furthermore, many characters from the work, such as Atreyu, Fújur ​​(or Falkor, depending on the version), the Childlike Empress and many others, have remained true classics in the collective memory of many film buffs. However, not everyone was exactly delighted with this adaptation. Its original creator, Michael Ende, hated it until the end of his days.

The legacy, perfect?, of The Neverending Story

It is not usual for the author of a novel to be especially critical of the film that adapts his work (even if only for mere commercial interest). It is not usually common, but sometimes it happens. For example, Stephen King himself has actively and passively repeated that he is not what a fan of the version of The glow by Stanley Kubrick, today a cult.

Something similar happens with the movie The never ending story. To begin with, it was an absolute success (in this case, it does differ with The glowwhich did not work at the box office). The project had a budget of around 25 million dollars (not small for the time) but It managed to raise more than 100 million when it was released in theaters around the world in 1984.

Taking into account, precisely, this commercial push, the film inspired sequels throughout the ’90s which, although they enjoyed a certain popularity due to the recurring nature of their protagonists, at no time did they equal the impact of the original. And, as is increasingly common nowadays, it will also have a new adaptation. But despite everything, the film did not convince Michael Ende.

To be more precise: he hated it. Upon its release, Ende was one of the film’s fiercest critics, stating that the team behind the film had not understood any of the essence of the storymaking it banal. He even tried to take legal action so that his name did not appear in the credits, something unusual for an author of a work adapted to film.

The Neverending Story: Fairy Tale or Philosophical Work?

For Ende, The never ending story It was not simply a fantastic story; It had a philosophical and psychological depth that the director failed to capture. The author believed that his work was about imagination, the power of dreams and the responsibility of those who have the power to dream, while the film concentrated on the superficial aspects of the adventure.

To make matters worse, aspects such as Atreyu’s appearance were modified to make them look better from a visual point of view. Even so, The never ending story It was a great success; less philosophical than the book and more trivial, but a success nonetheless. And when it marked a generation of kids, it was serious, right?

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Tags: Movies, Cinema