The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie. What Did You Think?
March Meeting Discussion
OK. Here we go. The following report is about our March 10, 2006 meeting: A discussion of the LWW Movie moderated by Jim Como. (Many thanks to Jennifer Woodruff Tait, our Society meeting reporter.) For anyone who is new to the New York Society or C. S. Lewis scholarship, Jim is one of the founders of the Society (see our charter) and author of two Lewis books which are available to order through our books page (which leads you to the Amazon.com site).What did you think of the movie? Do you agree or disagree with any of the comments below? Try to stay on topic, please.
::Jim Como took the floor to moderate our discussion on ''The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe ''movie. He organized the discussion around a series
of questions.
"What did people think of it in its own right as a movie?" Impossible to
judge; we bring too much baggage (Mary Gehringer). Not as moving as the
cartoon version (Geraldine Hawkins). Too much "Surround Sound" (Clara
Sarrocco). Too much action (Marilyn Driscoll, to which Jim responded
"Yes, the battle scene in the book was only a page and a half…but I
expected worse.") More close escapes than the book (Eric Wurthmann). Saw
it with Confirmation class and parents, several of whom had no idea of the
Christian connections but enjoyed it as a movie (Nancy Stanley). Kids I
saw it with were captivated and mesmerized (Jim). Really liked the setup
with the war background, but disappointed in the conversations at the
Beavers' house and the ice floe (Bob Trexler). Tentatively 3 stars, but
not at the same level as the Lord of the Rings movies; astoundingly
unjaded and romantic for a modern children's movie (Edwin Woodruff Tait).
Frederica Matthews Green's essay on the movie thought the depiction of the
children was too snotty (Geraldine). Several found it visually appealing.
"Are there particular images that either put you off or continue to
resonate?" Missed the "romp" after the resurrection (Jim). Ice floe
scene was jarring, but loved Tumnus and his house (Jay Blossom). Happy
that line about "Battles are ugly when women fight" was left out (Erin
Kerr; produced a small discussion on Lewis' view of women; Jim quipped,
"It is in fact a sexist remark and we need more of them"). Several
thought Lucy was well cast, including Mary, who said "Every moment Lucy
was in the movie I cherish," particularly her wonder at first seeing
Narnia. Erin disagreed and thought she was too young. Aslan was watered
down (Mary; someone else said he was too small.) Jim noted that any
falling short in the conception of Aslan represents failure. He gave this
Aslan 8 out of 10 stars, and people commented that Liam Neeson was "too
nice" (Jim: "You didn't buy the 'not tame'") and that Louis Markos did not
like him. Jim reminded us that Aslan's first appearance is not as
glorious as he grows in the later Chronicles. Jim thought Tilda Swinton
was magnificent and, in fact, better than the book's White Witch. Edwin
gave Aslan a 6 and the White Witch an 8. Bob didn't like the Professor,
but Maggie loved him, especially at the end of the movie.
"Do we feel we've been to Narnia when we see the movie?" Absolutely
(Eric). Lots of moments came close to the book, especially the first
glimpses of the lamppost, Cair Paravel, and Tumnus' house (Lori Pieper).
Jim noted CSL's own remarks about the adjectival characteristic of fairy
tales, where feel is more important than plot, and said he was "relieved"
when the movie did not betray the book. Claire Edwards was not impressed
by the scene at the Stone Table, but Sue Wendling had a colleague who was
overwhelmed by the reality of evil as a result of that scene, and Jim said
he will carry the image of the White Witch gloating with him as an image
of evil. He noted, "Think of how may special effects they could have used
but did not." Incidentally, the Tolkien children dislike the LOTR movies
intently, but the grandchildren like them, which has caused a breach.
Linda Bridges said that in LOTR she loved the casting and scenery but
thought they "left out all the poetry and most of the dialogue." (Jim
found Hobbiton a "master achievement.")
"How do we feel about differences between the movie and the book?" The
movie soft-pedaled the books' message (Barbara Zelenko). Went with an
atheist friend who loved the movie (Maggie). If she had seen the movie as
a kid, it wouldn't have motivated her to read the book (Erin). Yes, but
many people have been motivated to do just that (Jim, who also liked very
much being brought into the wartime setting at the beginning). Liked the
added character of the Fox, and so does Dr. Markos (Sue). Liked the fact
that Tumnus' father was killed in a Narnian war (Bob). As far as
Christianity in the film, some things left unexplained that Lewis made
more explicit; screenwriters, with good memories of the book from
childhood, just wanted to make a good fantasy (Lori). Jim noted that we
feel this is "our" story and our reaction is a little like Tolkien's
children.
"If you had your magic wand, would you wave it and stop them from making
the other 6 movies"? The general consensus was no. Eagerly waiting to
see how they portray the Calormenes (Woody Wendling). The other books are
better as books and will probably make better movies (Jay).
"How is the movie related to the culture wars?" (Jim noted here that a
lot of "Narnia stuff" is being written and marketed which really sells
Lewis' vision short.) The movie was marketed to both evangelicals and
non-Christians. Some newspapers did quite a bit of homework, although the
NY Times and the New Yorker were not among them. One critic even thought
Bush had paid Disney for the line "even though it's not our war." One
reviewer was embarrassed that he and his children had liked the book when
he found out the Christian connection (Sue). The association of Lewis and
imperialism by these critics is stupid, since one of the main function of
Kings and Queens in Narnia was to keep people from being sent to school
and otherwise socialized into a modern state (Edwin).
"Did the movie capture Lewis' "re-mythologized" vision of Christianity?"
The very last scene evokes a longing for more (Eric) The movie, like the
book, makes you want to go back to find out more (Nancy, who hopes Aslan
will develop more power and majesty in later movies). Woody Wendling
closed us out by reminiscing that, when he discovered the ''Chronicles of
Narnia ''as an undergrad, he read them all in one weekend!
The meeting closed at 8:55 and discussion continued over refreshments.
Report by Jennifer Woodruff Tait::
Posted on Thursday 20 of April, 2006 [14:06:59 UTC]
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