The Allegory of Narnia
[Just a thought: it is my impression that it is generally assumed that pronouncing "my" as "me" is indicative of a plebeian childhood. But it occurs to me that the long-E value of a terminal Y is by far more common in the lexicon.]
I saw The Chronicles of Narnia yesterday afternoon. I read the entire series as a teenager, but that was long enough ago now that I only remember the basic plot of the first. I also saw the animated version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (much, much better than the animated LotR efforts [which isn't necessarily saying much]). Most of the books I enjoyed; I know that I like the first one.
The movie opens in the midst of a flight of German bombers over London during their bomb runs. Much has been made of the fearfulness of Allied bombing raids over Germany, especially the daylight raids; but the same cannot be said for their German counterparts. This opening made it seem just as terrible for them.
The casting was very well done: the four Pevensie kids look and act their story-ages. Much has been made of the White Witch actress's loveliness; I'd seen stills, but they don't convey her big-screen presence. On her first entrance, I bethought myself of Frodo's reason for giving Strider the benefit of the doubt in FotR: "I think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and feel fouler." That's she. It was a wonderful movie: nicely atmospheric, quickly paced, beautifully set, subtlely magical. And then they got to the encampment of Aslan's army.
Tolkien wrote that whatever else it was, the LotR was not allegory: in fact, he wrote, "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations...." One of his reasons was that an allegorical story commits the author to two masters with different interests, making it unlikely that the result will be excellent as both and probably good as neither. The part where story-telling was paramount – the pre-Aslan's-camp part – was delightful. But even though I don't know what Lewis' particular committments were in TLtW&tW, I felt beaten over the head by allegory when it made its appearance.
I don't think this is the filmmakers' fault. Sometimes you can do everything right and still fail; this, I think, is what happened. The story simply is not suited to the realism of moviemaking. After they got to Aslan's camp, things became very silly very quickly. The girls' attachment to Aslan seemed plot-driven, not character-driven (i.e., not believable). I snickered my way through the battle (I could go on at length about that, but I'll restrict myself to one...no, two observations: first, cheetahs are short-distance sprinters; after 400 yards, their elevated body temperature affects their brain and they have to stop. Second, if you must have a rhinoceros in your ranks, for God's sake put it in the front line, not the third — and what's a rhino doing with the good guys, anyway? They're short-tempered and nasty, much more suited to the evil army). The Pevensies are believable as kids; as monarchs, not so much; and as knights, not at all.
Stylistically, it seems wholly derived from LotR, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and other things that I can't remember. I mean, I know that it's a broadly similar kind of story to those, but it's like they didn't even try to give it its own feel.
And at the very end, as Aslan is shown walking away down the beach, I felt the blood drain from my face. Please, God, please, let it be purely accidental that that scene recalled this poem.
I saw The Chronicles of Narnia yesterday afternoon. I read the entire series as a teenager, but that was long enough ago now that I only remember the basic plot of the first. I also saw the animated version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (much, much better than the animated LotR efforts [which isn't necessarily saying much]). Most of the books I enjoyed; I know that I like the first one.
The movie opens in the midst of a flight of German bombers over London during their bomb runs. Much has been made of the fearfulness of Allied bombing raids over Germany, especially the daylight raids; but the same cannot be said for their German counterparts. This opening made it seem just as terrible for them.
The casting was very well done: the four Pevensie kids look and act their story-ages. Much has been made of the White Witch actress's loveliness; I'd seen stills, but they don't convey her big-screen presence. On her first entrance, I bethought myself of Frodo's reason for giving Strider the benefit of the doubt in FotR: "I think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and feel fouler." That's she. It was a wonderful movie: nicely atmospheric, quickly paced, beautifully set, subtlely magical. And then they got to the encampment of Aslan's army.
Tolkien wrote that whatever else it was, the LotR was not allegory: in fact, he wrote, "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations...." One of his reasons was that an allegorical story commits the author to two masters with different interests, making it unlikely that the result will be excellent as both and probably good as neither. The part where story-telling was paramount – the pre-Aslan's-camp part – was delightful. But even though I don't know what Lewis' particular committments were in TLtW&tW, I felt beaten over the head by allegory when it made its appearance.
I don't think this is the filmmakers' fault. Sometimes you can do everything right and still fail; this, I think, is what happened. The story simply is not suited to the realism of moviemaking. After they got to Aslan's camp, things became very silly very quickly. The girls' attachment to Aslan seemed plot-driven, not character-driven (i.e., not believable). I snickered my way through the battle (I could go on at length about that, but I'll restrict myself to one...no, two observations: first, cheetahs are short-distance sprinters; after 400 yards, their elevated body temperature affects their brain and they have to stop. Second, if you must have a rhinoceros in your ranks, for God's sake put it in the front line, not the third — and what's a rhino doing with the good guys, anyway? They're short-tempered and nasty, much more suited to the evil army). The Pevensies are believable as kids; as monarchs, not so much; and as knights, not at all.
Stylistically, it seems wholly derived from LotR, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and other things that I can't remember. I mean, I know that it's a broadly similar kind of story to those, but it's like they didn't even try to give it its own feel.
And at the very end, as Aslan is shown walking away down the beach, I felt the blood drain from my face. Please, God, please, let it be purely accidental that that scene recalled this poem.
posted by Dr. Bubbles at 12:00
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