Narnia for the furries!!
Dec. 15th, 2005 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoForget it if you read the book and didn't like it. Forget it if you're prejudiced against the supposed Christian message. Forget it if you never read the book and don't think you like that sort of thing.
If there's an ounce, or even a dram, of furry blood in your veins, you should see The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. No, it doesn't replicate the book faithfully, though it does pretty much stick to the storyline. No, the acting (by human actors anyway) isn't stellar (though I did really like Professor Kirk.) See it for the animals. The beavers, the wolves, the fox, the centaurs, the horses, the gryphons (!) and most of all the lion. Leave your quibbles at the door and just enjoy the pictures and the voices. It's worth every minute for that.
I went in skeptical. I consider this to be the weakest book in the series of seven, and it's my least favorite. The fundamentalist Christian right has been trumpeting the film until I was prepared to be bludgeoned with Christian drivel that isn't even in the book. Well, it didn't do that. Sure, you can give it the Christian reading if you wish, but I could just as easily read the underlying pagan storyline and be perfectly happy with it.
Oh, and don't leave the instant the credits appear. An important but brief scene is spliced into the middle of the credits, and gets missed by many theatre goers who rush for the exit the minute the word "Cast" rolls onto the screen.
A high point for me (not in the original book, I'm quite sure) is when Edmund's horse speaks to him for the first time. Edmund calls out "Whoa, horsey!" and the horse turns his head and answers "My name is Phillip."
A low point (in the book too, the scene I disliked most) came when Peter killed the wolf. Lewis did not paint the wolves quite as grimly as the film does, but he never openly allowed them redemption either. I much prefer to think of them as being more afraid of the witch than they were of Aslan. This equates to what theologians call "imperfect contrition" and is still valid. I do not believe they were beyond redemption. On the whole, Lewis depicted the Narnian animal races as unfallen. Like the original races of Malacandra in his book Out of the Silent Planet, they had never succumbed to original sin (whatever that is supposed to be anyway) and though by no means incorruptible, had a sort of natural innocence. This would include the wolves, minotaurs, and others depicted in this film as somehow inherently "evil" or "wicked".
Sin and wickedness entered Narnia at the hands of the "sons of Adam and daughters of Eve" and that doesn't mean just Edmund. When Narnia was young, two human children committed a series of errors that brought Jadis the White Witch to the world from her own place, so it was through the agency of humans that she had to be expelled as well. Aslan did not, could not, expel the witch on his own. He needed the four human helpers of the prophecy. In order to gain their full assistance, he had to buy back Edmund's life, in accordance with pagan custom, by offering an equal trade. This fits with ancient pre-Christian rites and tradition just as well as it could with any Christian interpretation. There is nothing Christian about Jadis or her army.
The writers and director made too much of the battle scene, and left out other details that might better have used the time. The outcome of the battle has to be what it is. The prophecy has been fulfilled, and can go no other way. They also laundered the essentially British dialog, Americanizing it. I thought this unnecessary and an insult to audiences, but it's what you can expect from Disney. Some additions to the storyline were necessary if non-readers were to follow the plot successfully. Others were gratuitous and either pointless or just an excuse for some effect or other.
Still, the scenery is magnificent and well-photographed. The animals are very well executed in my opinion and have rich voices. I wanted to plunge my hands into Aslan's mane, and felt no inclination to bow before him in shame or worship. No doubt this will bother some of the Christian fanatics. Professor Kirk is marvelous, especially when he speaks one of my favorite lines in the entire story, "What do they teach them in these schools?"
You must see the gryphons, the centaurs, and all the rest. Just do it, and leave your prejudices and expectations at the door.
If there's an ounce, or even a dram, of furry blood in your veins, you should see The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. No, it doesn't replicate the book faithfully, though it does pretty much stick to the storyline. No, the acting (by human actors anyway) isn't stellar (though I did really like Professor Kirk.) See it for the animals. The beavers, the wolves, the fox, the centaurs, the horses, the gryphons (!) and most of all the lion. Leave your quibbles at the door and just enjoy the pictures and the voices. It's worth every minute for that.
I went in skeptical. I consider this to be the weakest book in the series of seven, and it's my least favorite. The fundamentalist Christian right has been trumpeting the film until I was prepared to be bludgeoned with Christian drivel that isn't even in the book. Well, it didn't do that. Sure, you can give it the Christian reading if you wish, but I could just as easily read the underlying pagan storyline and be perfectly happy with it.
Oh, and don't leave the instant the credits appear. An important but brief scene is spliced into the middle of the credits, and gets missed by many theatre goers who rush for the exit the minute the word "Cast" rolls onto the screen.
A high point for me (not in the original book, I'm quite sure) is when Edmund's horse speaks to him for the first time. Edmund calls out "Whoa, horsey!" and the horse turns his head and answers "My name is Phillip."
A low point (in the book too, the scene I disliked most) came when Peter killed the wolf. Lewis did not paint the wolves quite as grimly as the film does, but he never openly allowed them redemption either. I much prefer to think of them as being more afraid of the witch than they were of Aslan. This equates to what theologians call "imperfect contrition" and is still valid. I do not believe they were beyond redemption. On the whole, Lewis depicted the Narnian animal races as unfallen. Like the original races of Malacandra in his book Out of the Silent Planet, they had never succumbed to original sin (whatever that is supposed to be anyway) and though by no means incorruptible, had a sort of natural innocence. This would include the wolves, minotaurs, and others depicted in this film as somehow inherently "evil" or "wicked".
Sin and wickedness entered Narnia at the hands of the "sons of Adam and daughters of Eve" and that doesn't mean just Edmund. When Narnia was young, two human children committed a series of errors that brought Jadis the White Witch to the world from her own place, so it was through the agency of humans that she had to be expelled as well. Aslan did not, could not, expel the witch on his own. He needed the four human helpers of the prophecy. In order to gain their full assistance, he had to buy back Edmund's life, in accordance with pagan custom, by offering an equal trade. This fits with ancient pre-Christian rites and tradition just as well as it could with any Christian interpretation. There is nothing Christian about Jadis or her army.
The writers and director made too much of the battle scene, and left out other details that might better have used the time. The outcome of the battle has to be what it is. The prophecy has been fulfilled, and can go no other way. They also laundered the essentially British dialog, Americanizing it. I thought this unnecessary and an insult to audiences, but it's what you can expect from Disney. Some additions to the storyline were necessary if non-readers were to follow the plot successfully. Others were gratuitous and either pointless or just an excuse for some effect or other.
Still, the scenery is magnificent and well-photographed. The animals are very well executed in my opinion and have rich voices. I wanted to plunge my hands into Aslan's mane, and felt no inclination to bow before him in shame or worship. No doubt this will bother some of the Christian fanatics. Professor Kirk is marvelous, especially when he speaks one of my favorite lines in the entire story, "What do they teach them in these schools?"
You must see the gryphons, the centaurs, and all the rest. Just do it, and leave your prejudices and expectations at the door.
