The Dark Crystal

When U told me a few weeks ago that The Dark Crystal would be playing today at The Barrymore Film Center, I actually started crying.

It's been years since I've thought of that movie, but the memory of it shot me directly back into my childhood. Even the logo of the title that looks like it was hand-drawn feels incredibly familiar. 

An artistically intricate puppet show about good and evil -- incredibly simple and clearly influenced by Clash of the Titans, Star Wars and The Lord Of The Rings, this movie just strikes me as incredibly pure. The images in it have stuck with me since childhood and the storyline is so satisfying. U and I talked about whether or not we like movies about prophecies. In this case I consider it to be like a miniature train. The train has a clear track and you know exactly where it's going. You can marvel at the beauty and even enjoy the occasional car derailment because you still know you're going to get exactly where you need to go.

As a child we drove two hours to see the puppets on display at OMSI. I most remember seeing Augra up close and being mesmerized by the beauty of her realistically old and disturbing features. Today when we saw the movie again I had a flash of, "I've met her in person!"

It adds to the charm -- kind of -- of that movie had a tear in it while they were showing it to us and needed about 20 minutes to repair it.

It struck me painfully that if I show this movie to NDR, it's probably impossible for her to appreciate it the same why I do. There's something about experiencing something as a child that potentially can lace it with an extra layer of magic that can never be replicated by experiencing it later in life, but I still look forward to sharing this with her.