The following is a review of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which I wrote in December 2005 after seeing the movie for the first time. What I wrote then is just as applicable now--except that it is easier than ever to visit Narnia; just rent or purchase the DVD! The Narnia DVD has lots of great extras on it--and the new extended DVD coming out at the end of 2006 will have even more goodies!!
I just went to Narnia . . . along with three hundred college students from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. We were transported to C. S. Lewis's magical land by the incredible work of Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. We were among the first audiences to see the new movie version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in a sneak preview.
This movie brought to life a story I have lived with for thirty three years. The year was 1972. I was nine years old, in the fourth grade, public school, in Southern California. My teacher, Mrs. Ewing, opened a book and began to read aloud to the class . . . AOnce there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.@ By the end of the first chapter, and she read a chapter each day, I was enchanted.
That was my introduction to C. S. Lewis=s The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe, the first of seven books in The Chronicles of Narnia series. The new Narnia movie, which opens across America on December 9, 2005, has been directed by Andrew Adamson of Shrek fame. The co-producer is Douglas Gresham, the step-son of C. S. Lewis.
My family and I spent most of 2004 living and working with Gresham in Ireland so we received frequent reports as to how the production was coming along. We were not deceived in any way by Doug's glorious, but discreet, accounts from the set. Last night my family and I watched a movie which did the seemingly impossible-it improved upon and deepened the implications of Lewis's original book. The actors, from Tilda Swinton as the White Witch to the four formerly unknown British children who play the Pevensies, have made the characters in Lewis's classic fairy tale more real than I thought possible prior to seeing the film. And what can be said to adequately describe the work of Andrew Adamson and his team of CGI experts? In short, they made Aslan, the Beavers and all the other talking animals and mythical creatures believable. If I didn't have faith in Narnia before, I do now.
However, those not familiar with Narnia may wonder why they should see this movie. Why should parents, in particular, take their children to see this PG-rated film? First of all, parents should see this film with their children because The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of the most beloved children=s stories of all time. Since Lewis published the first book in 1950, the Narnia books have sold over 95 million copies in 41 languages, making the series into a children=s classic. Hopefully seeing Narnia will have the same impact that hearing the first Narnia book had on meBit will make your children want to read the whole series, or have you read it to them. I have read the Narnia books countless times to my own children. One chapter per night always leaves them wanting more. These books have been a marvelous experience for our family to share.
Secondly, you should take your children, or grandchildren, to see this film because of the values in it. As we all know, getting a film out of Hollywood with family values in it is a rare find these days. So when a movie like Narnia comes along we, the viewing public, need to send a strong message to Hollywood by going to see it in the theater. This is a film, not only about a lion, a witch and a wardrobe, it is a film about right and wrong, and the dangers of temptation; it is a movie with subtle lessons in it which we probably all need to learn afresh.
Thirdly, you and your children, or grandchildren, should go to see this film because it will fill you with a sense of wonder. At one point while we were watching the movie I glanced over at my six-year-old son Josh and he had the most beatific smile of delight I have ever seen on any child's face. Wonder and awe are commodities sadly lacking in our world today, but Lewis=s stories deliver the experience of the numinous, or what Lewis often called joy, with great power. One of the most valuable things about Lewis as an author is that he sees life in epic proportions; this movie should help viewers to do the same. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Lewis gives us a foretaste of a life we have only dreamed of. He gives us, who live in the frosts and east winds of old nature, the fragrance of spring flowers, the aroma of a new nature to enjoy.
But, you may ask, what difference can a fairytale make in the life of a child today? Won=t a fairytale either frighten a child too much or lead to a dangerous sort of escapism? I think Lewis himself best answered these questions when he wrote:
Since it is so likely that they [children] will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker. . . . Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end of the book. . . . I think it possible that by confining your child to blameless stories of child life in which nothing at all alarming ever happens, you would fail to banish the terrors, and would succeed in banishing all that can ennoble them or make them endurable. . . . if he [your child] is going to be frightened, I think it better that he should think of giants and dragons than merely of burglars. And I think St George, or any bright champion in armour, is a better comfort than the idea of the police.
Narnia is a film filled with brave knights and heroic courage, a movie which will make your child=s destiny not darker, but brighter; this movie is that rare experience: entertainment that ennobles. You won=t want to miss it. Your children, or grandchildren, will thank you for taking them. And you may just have some fun yourself!
