The UK and USA have had their premieres of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Narnia opens in NZ tomorrow. But in Australia we have to wait until Boxing Day. Maybe it’s because we don’t have such an investment in the movie. The book was written by a Brtish writer born in Ireland, C.S. Lewis. The film was directed by a New Zealander, Andrew Adamson, known for his direction of Shrek. The filming was done in Auckland and parts of the South Island. No doubt the money came from the USA.
So we have to rely on trailers and reviews on Narnia from around the world.
One interesting resource I came across recently was the Christianity Today interview with Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis, Honorary Vice President of the C.S. Lewis Foundation and the co-producer of the film. Gresham points out that even though he has a Christian faith he chooses to interpret the Narnia books and movie in broader terms. He points out that there are dying/living stories connected with Hinduism and Norse mythology.
“Christians who watch the movie or read the book will look for Christian symbolism. But I think that’s the wrong way to approach it. I think it’s far better to read the book or see the movie and try to find out where you fit into Narnia. Analyze yourself and how you would react under these circumstances. Who are you? Are you an Edmund? Are you a Peter? Or a Lucy or a Susan or a Tumnus? Where do you fit?”
Gresham talks about his stepfather’s unease with the movie industry. C.S. Lewis wrote a letter to BBC producer Lance Sieveking in 1959 in which he outlined his reluctance for the books to be made into movies. The text is available at NthPosition. “Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare”, Lewis wrote.
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Lewis was a writer and a man of his time. I imagine he may have seen things differently now if he had seen the work done by Jackson on Lord of the Rings.
I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Thursday night. As I wandered down the hallway towards theatre 9 with two members of the family I commented on how few people were walking in. I would have thought the place would be packed. I soon found out why. Everyone was already there. I ended up with a seat three from the front - not good for the neck I tell you. Apart from the awkward seating angles required to see the screen, it was well worth going.
The movie opens with Harry, Hermoine and the Weasleys heading off to the Quidditch World Cup with two members of the Diggory family.
The first thing I noticed was the long hair. These are teenagers as I remember them in the mid 1970s. The visual effects were sheer magic. The director Mike Newell managed to convey a the sense of panic and destruction that ensues on the night of the match.
Mike Newell was also the director of Mona Lisa Smile, Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil. He’s quoted as saying, “”I was very anxious to break the franchise out of this goody-two-shoes feel. It’s my view that children are violent, dirty, corrupt anarchists. Just adults-in-waiting basically.”
The movie, and even more so the book, brings out the ambiguity of life. Harry’s discovering that it’s not so easy to distinguish between good and evil. The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione goes through the throes of jealousy, mistrust and sheer bad communication - the plight of fourteen year olds. And then there’s the sheer frustration of fourteen year old girls struggle with the inability of their peers to rise to the challenge of romance.
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Roger Lloyd-Pack, best known for his work as Owen Newitt in Vicar of Dibley, does an excellent job as Barty Crouch. Eric Sykes, famous English comedian, plays the part of the murdered caretaker right at the beginning. Reporter Rita Skeeter is played by Miranda Richardson, best known in our house as Queenie (Queen Elizabeth I) in Blackadder. Madame Olympe Maxime is played by Frances de la Tour, known for her role in British sitcom, Rising Damp.
I received an email today from Christian Music Updates. I’ve been on this list for a while. I’m not sure how I got on the list. I tried unsubscribing at one point. Anyway I’d been thinking about trying again. But today’s post caught my eye.
It began with the text:
As we’ve previously done with films like “Polar Express,” Motive Entertainment has created a wide variety of resources and events for the upcoming release of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” (in theaters Dec. 9) - for faith, educational, and community leaders.
Hey that sounds good I thought. So over to www.narniaresources.com I went. The site provides a movie overview, the capacity to register for updates, order free materials, download trailers, behind the scenes videos, and promotional imagery, as well as information on buying block tickets for churches, schools, scout troops and other large groups or organisations.
Only problem is that the free Narnia School kit, Educator’s Guide, Discussion Guides and posters are only available within the United States.
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So who is the we of “Motive Entertainment”? It turns out that Motive Entertainment is Paul Lauer, the man behind the promotion of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Tom Hanks/Paul Zemeckis film, “The Polar Express”. See Motive Marketing’s web site for more details.
Tim at Challies.com was complaining last week about the crass movie marketing targeted at Evangelicals. Adrian Warnock at his UK Evangelical Blog says that he’s all too happy to receive sneak previews about what ’should turn out to be the film of the year’. I’m with Adrian on that one.
One interesting resource I came across recently was the Christianity Today interview with Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis, Honorary Vice President of the C.S. Lewis Foundation and the co-producer of the film. Gresham points out that even though he has a Christian faith he chooses to interpret the Narnia books and movie in broader terms. He points out that there are dying/living stories connected with Hinduism and Norse mythology.
