CoN: LW&W

I rarely go see movies on opening weekend. But The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is such a beloved C.S. Lewis classic that I felt compelled to do so. (My church bought out an entire theater at the Quarry, but even so I wound up going to a different showing due to a ticket shortage.) I recently reread LW&W so that I could better enjoy the film adaptation, but I think I became a stronger critic instead. But first, the positive.

I was pleased that the film is framed by the realities of Germany’s aerial assault on London and through an initial sequence fully establishes the tension between Peter and Edmund that climaxes with his betrayal of his siblings much later in Narnia. I was delighted with Lucy, whose sense of wonder and appreciation of the new and mysterious is captured nicely on screen—along with her special relationship with Mr. Tumnus, which was enhanced beautifully in the film (though his artificial nose is obvious in some places). The technological feat of making animals appear lifelike was definitely achieved in the case of Aslan—not only does he look amazingly real, but even his eyes are expressive during the course of the film. The White Witch is, quite rightly, cold but beautiful, a dark evil concealed by her pale features and light colored apparel. Father Christmas is bright-eyed and plays a wonderfully prophetic role in the film—and does his part to signal what should be a pivotal moment in the story. The musical score is magnificent (producing some teary-eyed moments for this writer), and there are some impressive parts in the battle sequence.

Now, the disappointment(s).

First, drastic changes to the plot were made. So as not to ruin this for future viewers, I won’t elaborate too much, except to say that from the children’s encounter with the beavers until they meet Aslan, very little of Lewis’ narrative is maintained. Everything is condensed, of course—so the children find themselves in a very different race to avoid danger than in the book. The changing of seasons from winter to spring does not elicit any problems for the White Witch, and actually creates peril for the children. The depth of the White Witch’s cruelty to Edmund is never exposed, though Edmund does clearly change his mind about her as he watches her treatment of others.

Second, the degree of character transformation in each of the children is meager, at best. There is much too much hesitation, even late in the film, by Peter who is supposed to be the brave leader of the bunch. Edmund fully redeems himself, but Susan’s “gentleness” appears very late; she is mostly a nervous, mother-like figure who continually wants to turn back and go home. Lucy is the most sympathetic character, of course, as she is in the novel, and seems to grow up the most. One of the best (though too short) moments in the film is at the end of the battle after she restores Edmund with a drop of her miracle cordial, and then sees Aslan breathe life into one of the stone creatures. Immediately they show Aslan look at Lucy and she realizes she has a life-saving mission of her own to accomplish and runs off to use her gift for good.

As for the film’s integrity to Lewis’ allegorical message, it would be impossible for the story to hold together without a few lines in the film that attest to the spiritual realities at work, the “deep magic” governing Narnia’s existence. Aslan maintains his Christ-like qualities, and there is tragic beauty in the scene where Lucy and Susan walk with him towards the Stone Table.

Overall, I appreciated the film, but I think the literary version far exceeds the rendering I witnessed yesterday afternoon on the big screen.