Some thoughts on the recent Narnia movie.
One of my earliest memories of reading is of my first encounter with CS Lewis "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". I was on holidays when about ten years old when I found a copy of the book in my sister's room. I'd heard her mention the book but knew nothing about it, and I remember picking it up and reading it in one long delicious gulp. Since then I have read Lion and the rest of the Narnia books many times over, most recently as bedtime stories for my kids. As an aside, the stories read aloud very well.
I won't attempt a summary of the book. CS Lewis' story of faith, betrayal and repentance, his retelling of the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus in a fictional setting is deservedly a classic of Children's literature. The question is, how well does it translate in the recent film?
The answer comes to, pretty well, but not completely. The movie, beautifully executed and
well cast, lavishly realised with spectacular special effects, suffers from a common failing of books translated to film, with some plot alterations and the addition of unnecessary action sequences. Of these, the worst is the sequence when the children flee the beaver's house to join Aslan, which in the book is a tense flight through the forest by night. In the movie it becomes a full scale daylight chase scene, complete with flight across cracking ice, wolves snapping at the children's heels and (this being Narnia) throwing insults at them - most unnecessarily overdone. Other scenes are done much better - Aslan's confrontation with the Witch was very moving, and the final battle (which is very brief in the book) made for a very spectacular climax.
Overall the movie is a worthy retelling of the classic story, at least as good as any of the other versions I've seen. That said, the best way to enjoy the story is from the book, and I'm looking forward to reading tonight's chapter at bedtime.
One of my earliest memories of reading is of my first encounter with CS Lewis "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". I was on holidays when about ten years old when I found a copy of the book in my sister's room. I'd heard her mention the book but knew nothing about it, and I remember picking it up and reading it in one long delicious gulp. Since then I have read Lion and the rest of the Narnia books many times over, most recently as bedtime stories for my kids. As an aside, the stories read aloud very well.
I won't attempt a summary of the book. CS Lewis' story of faith, betrayal and repentance, his retelling of the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus in a fictional setting is deservedly a classic of Children's literature. The question is, how well does it translate in the recent film?
The answer comes to, pretty well, but not completely. The movie, beautifully executed and
well cast, lavishly realised with spectacular special effects, suffers from a common failing of books translated to film, with some plot alterations and the addition of unnecessary action sequences. Of these, the worst is the sequence when the children flee the beaver's house to join Aslan, which in the book is a tense flight through the forest by night. In the movie it becomes a full scale daylight chase scene, complete with flight across cracking ice, wolves snapping at the children's heels and (this being Narnia) throwing insults at them - most unnecessarily overdone. Other scenes are done much better - Aslan's confrontation with the Witch was very moving, and the final battle (which is very brief in the book) made for a very spectacular climax.
Overall the movie is a worthy retelling of the classic story, at least as good as any of the other versions I've seen. That said, the best way to enjoy the story is from the book, and I'm looking forward to reading tonight's chapter at bedtime.
posted by Barry Haworth at 9:30 PM
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