Daily Dialogue — April 11, 2016
G’MORK: Don’t you know anything about Fantasia? It’s 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.
ATREYU: But why is Fantasia dying, then?
G’MORK: Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So, the Nothing grows stronger.
ATREYU: What is the Nothing?
G’MORK: It’s the emptiness that’s left. It is like a despair destroying this world, and I have been trying to help it.
ATREYU: But why?
G’MORK: Because people who have no hopes are easy to control, and whoever has the control, has the power.
ATREYU: Who are you really?
G’MORK: I am the servant of the power behind the Nothing. I was sent to kill the only one who could have stopped the Nothing. I lost him in the Swamps of Sadness. His name was Atreyu.
ATREYU: If we’re about to die anyway, I’d rather die fighting. Come for me, G’mork. I am Atreyu!
— The NeverEnding Story (1984), screenplay by Wolfgang Petersen and Herman Weigel; based on the novel by Michael Ende; additional dialogue by Robert Easton
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Villain. Today’s suggestion by Will King.
Trivia: Author Michael Ende decided that he was unhappy with the film’s version of his story, and refused to have his name placed in the opening credits. A small credit appears at the end with his name. He also asked if the movie title would be changed or cancelled. After the studio declined both options, he filed a lawsuit and ultimately lost.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “Earlier in the story, Atreyu was hunted by G’Mork the assassin and barely escaped. He now comes face-to-face with his would-be killer as the world of Fantasia breaks apart. G’mork is also unaware that the figure before him is his intended victim as G’Mork never saw Atreyu’s face. This exchange is poignant because it clarifies what the Nothing is, and why all physical attempts to defeat it, all of Atreyu’s quests, have failed. It also gives Atreyu at least a partial victory over the villain that seeks to destroy Fantasia by killing its henchman.”