Do you think you know — “THE NEVERENDING STORY” movie?
Well…how about this? — PART 2
This article/review is about the forgotten movie cut for THE NEVERENDING STORY.
Did you know there´s an original German cut that makes the film feel a bit different?
Have you read PART 1?
If you didn´t, then I recommend you read it before continuing.
You have?
Okay then…
It’s fascinating and depressing to realize now that all of Wolfgang Petersen’s original intention of trying to be genuinely faithful to the tone of Michael Ende’s novel was erased from the “American Cut.”
Only now, all these years later, when comparing the two films, we can perceive the magnitude of the differences.
The power of editing is fascinating, and this film is an accurate case study.
A MORE COMPLEX (AUDIO) STORY
When we watch the original German cut, we notice that not only are some parts of the story are now more detailed, but the [ “DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ] is loaded with alternative dialogues that we have never heard before.
From the classic scene in the clearing where the travelers meet at the beginning of the story, where we finally hear the authentic voice of the little man who rides the fast snail, to a lot of small changes in the dialogue with Morla, Falkor, Engivuk, and Gmork, [ “ DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ] is a never-ending series of audio surprises from beginning to end.
One of the sequences that I always find unnecessary in the “American Cut” we all know is the “classic” dialogue between Atreyu and Rockbiter when the kid finds him in the ruined city alone.
Remember this bit? — “They look like big, strong hands… don’t they?” …
This scene always seemed shallow and pointless to me, even breaking the pace of the movie too much.
However, all I had to do now was listen to the original dialogue soundtrack recorded for this sequence, and the scene immediately gained an entirely correct dramatic context.
Suddenly, this little “useless” scene has every reason to be there so that we can understand the characters’ desperation without trying to throw forced emotional moments in our faces. This has become one of the best moments in the original version as (now) it forms the perfect bridge to the story’s final act.
I had no idea that the Americans had dubbed so many actors and had replaced so much dialogue to create the commercial version we know from the theater run.
What surprised me the most about this original German version was that it also contained so many small audio inserts that made a difference in terms of the emotional tone of the story.
I was expecting the additional six minutes to include some new things, but I didn’t expect to find so many differences in terms of sound!
And it’s all absolutely fascinating. That is, of course, if you belong to that group of people who, like me, know the “normal” film backward and forwards.
These small changes that we now find in the original version bring this adventure to a more adult tone than the one we are used to and bring it closer to the original novel. A story that never tried to be politically correct or less sad or scary just because it would initially be a book for children is the most crucial detail reflected in [ “DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ].
That’s why [ “DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ] is by far the closest version to Michael Ende’s novel. It has a more serious, more dramatic adventure atmosphere, very, very haunted at times ( the European cinema style feels good ), and even contains some unexpected “gore” in terms of the way it shows blood flowing when Gmork is killed (something obviously eliminated from the American version).
It becomes almost impossible…Or, better, It is a real… never-ending task, trying now to describe the dozens and dozens of different details in this original cut of the film.
The way music ( and the absence of it ) now creates a distressing and haunted environment in the sequences set in the Swamp of Sadness makes it seem like we are seeing a more modified sequence than it actually is.
The tiny new insertions in Atreyu’s monologue when Artax drowns and the brief extra seconds in the editing of this sequence, for example, now make this part in [ “ DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ] indeed come closer to the dramatic environment in a severe tone present in the book when in the American version I even had the idea that there had been overacting there when Atreyu screams to save his horse. That wrong feeling has now been completely corrected.
The German version not only restores the original suspense but, in a certain way, restores the quality of Noah Hataway’s work that the cuts in the American editing had somewhat destroyed or minimized.
And speaking of the quality of acting. If the Child Princess was already fabulous in the American version, the tiny new inserts in the part where she is increasingly distressed in the final suspenseful moments will chill you to the core with the honesty and sensitivity of that moment of acting — another excellent example of where five or six seconds make a difference and elevate the actors’ work.
How Spielberg ( who edited the “American Cut” of the film) removed these brief seconds for the American version is beyond me… maybe it was to avoid torturing the young American viewers at the time who couldn’t handle tense and excessively emotional moments… Or to avoid complaints by the parents back then too, I bet. And this happens in many other scenes.
6 ENDLESS MINUTES
We may be talking about 6 minutes of difference, but it’s not six minutes of new scenes. Yes, it’s 6 minutes of short inserts, sometimes lasting no more than two seconds, but I’ll repeat it: they make all the difference in the actors’ acting and dramatic tone!Divide these 6 minutes into hundreds of small — inserts — that allow us to finally see a bunch of original sequences in their complete form, and you will end up watching [ “DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ] with the true feeling of having seen an entirely new film.
I NEVER KNEW IT WAS THAT BEAUTIFUL!…
In its original German Cut, this film will even appear to have many more extra scenes than it actually does.
This doesn’t mean that here and there, there aren’t some sequences that we’ve never seen before.
For example, I was so marked as a child by the scene of the Ivory Tower landscape that I became a professional illustrator because of it. So for me, just the fact that now, in this “long” version, there are at least another five seconds of panoramic views around the epic scenery means that [ “DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ] is now probably my new favorite version of this film.
The soundtrack is different because it only contains the original music, which was already excellent.
It may not contain the additional electronic touches we know introduced by Georgio Moroder later, but Klaus Doldinger’s original score is still utterly magical. Mainly because, in the original, it is being used in places we do not expect to create a totally different emotional tone.
Less Disney and more Lord of the Rings.
The original theme for the reveal of the Ivory Tower, which in the American version had been used for something else, is simply magical in this more extended sequence now in the film’s original version, for example. I had no idea this song was the actual theme for the Ivory Tower!
Because of this small change, the first visual revelation of the Ivory Tower in the original version gets to be even more epic and enchanted.
In fact, from now on, as much as I miss Limahl’s song at the beginning and end of the film, there is no doubt that the original cut from now on is the version that I will always revisit.
There is no comparison. The absence of Moroder’s music doesn’t make any difference.
[ “DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE” ] cut may still not be the perfect version of the first half of Michael Ende’s book, but it is by far the one that comes closest to the haunted tone present in the novel.
The original book contains a story from a time when any adult fantasy reader could appreciate children´s books, didn´t even think about being politically correct, and treated the readers like intelligent persons no matter the age group. The original German cut of -THE NEVERENDING STORY is more in sync with the atmosphere of the book.
If you are a fan of -THE NEVERENDING STORY- either as a book or as a movie, and you have never seen the film’s original cut, I recommend you get it.
I bought my copies at Amazon in Germany.
This is the special edition, remastered from a 4K source, but in standard 1080p. Contains the movie in Bluray and DVD.
There´s a really cool vintage documentary about the making of the film which is well known but still fascinanting.
If you want to get it on 4K, let me just say that the recent 4K Bluray restoration for this forgotten original cut is outstanding.
For that you need to get this one.
Unlike the modern remasters of the “American Cut” Blu-ray version, where many colors are pulled into green/blue tones to look more modern, and everything is ultra colorful and cheerful, Disney style,the sepia ambiance of the original film is fabulous.
The original German cut on Bluray keeps the original sepia-toned photography, which brings the whole thing into some sort of Tolkien-type world instead of Disneyworld.
The original version has a much more parchment-style tone when it comes to color and no longer looks like a colorful video game all the time.
So, are you curious enough to now go watch the original version of THE NEVERENDING STORY?
If you are a fan of the known cut, and above all if you really know that version very well, I totally recommend you get the original cut to compare.
People who don´t know the regular version in depth, probably won´t even notice 90% of the differences when watching the original cut.
But if you are a fan and you know your THE NEVERENDING STORY, you absolutely need to watch the original German cut.
It´s awesome. Watch it on 4K if you can.
To read PART ONE of this article, click HERE.
