I saw the Narnia movie tonight and have to say, it was better than I expected. I actually enjoyed how the filmmakers were able to portray the emotions and motivations of the children. This was something that Lewis stayed away from (at least in the Wardrobe). Later on, he does quite a bit more exposition on how characters like Eaustace feel and what drives them to make the choices they encounter.
Some of the settings were wrong (i.e. the very hobbit-ish hollow they hide in from Father Christmas instead of the nice cozy cave that Mr. Beaver takes them too). Some of the scenes seem to have been made for the video game (frozen river fight with the wolves) And worst of all, some of the characters were more than they should have been (the gallant fox that should have quietly been turned to stone at the Christmas Party) ... or Tummnus's "I believe in a Free Narnia" gagg...cough cough).
I mention these nitpicks not to make less of the movie, but to recognize that as we've seen many times before - sometimes you have to put stuff in to get an audience to the place you need them to be in the story. I don't mind that so much .... I rather enjoyed the battles and all the animals treating the children like royalty. What bothers me though is the stuff that was left out that could have been dropped in for the book fans - and this finally brings me to the title of the blog.
One of the things that makes the visit from Father Christmas so special (who didn't wear red though Susan said he did) was that he mentions leaving presents back at the dam including a new sewing machine for Mrs. Beaver. Even if the screen writer picked the throw-away line about having a hundred years to catch up on over talking to the beavers, we could have seen a sewing machine sitting in the sleigh. This type of little something extra was part of what made the LOTR rings movies so much fun to watch even when they story got mixed up a bit.
Since the Wardrobe was the first fantasy story I ever read, it still has a special place in my heart. As an adult though, I find it my least favorite of the Chronicles. What I still hold on to are those images. Many of them, like the way the coats gave way to branches and moth balls to crunching snow were wonderfully included. Others, like the "dead blue bottle" sitting on the window sill in the wardrobe room would have literally cost $5. I'm sad to have it missing ... especially when the death of CGI fly that probably cost more than my annual salary took it's place.
3 comments:
NITPICKER!!!...so you didn't like the movie?
None of that stuff bothers me and I guess that is how my mind understands the difference between a book and a movie.
In written form, sure the dead blue bottle adds value in describing the room with the wardrobe. But film is about the visuals and maybe they thought it would be too distracting in the scene where the discovery of the wardrobe is key - not hey look at that big wardrobe and what is that blue bottle doing on the window sill. You got to keep the story moving.
Maybe, they will have a director's cut.
Those things really didn't bother me. I do think that part of the reason the sewing machine was left out was a purposeful avoidance of the gender roles that Lewis put into the books.
Also notice that in the books Aslan told Susan and Lucy that war is an ugly place and not for girls. In the movie Aslan tells the girls simply that it is ugly. (I can't remember the exact quote for either here.)
I am not interested in arguing whether Lewis was right in his use of gender roles, but I do think that the filmmakers probably wanted to avoid appearing like male chauvinist pigs.
BTW...A Dead Blue Bottle...How cool is that? And what does it look like in your mind?
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