When Heather gets stuck in her closet, she arrives in...
Today is 12/10/2005. I went to the premiere of Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe last night and was very excited to say the least.
WARNING: This rant contains HUGE SPOILERS!
I dressed up as Jadis, Queen of Narnia, Empress of the Lone Islands, ruler or Archenland and the countries to the North, ex-Queen of Charn etc. etc...otherwise known as The White Witch, for the premiere. I had on my white Greco-Roman-ish costume, I put white body frosting all over my arms, neck, chest, and face, and used blue lipstick, blue eyeshadow, and light-blue powder as blush. I had an icicle crown and earrings and everything. I even ordered a Frosty from Wendys! I was a total Jadis fangirl.
I am THE Jadis fangirl Anyway, the movie started (and I threatened the two talking 9th graders in back of me with my new reprint-edition of the complete Chronicles), and here's my rant:
There is no way ANYONE who didn't read the book will get this. NO WAY. The opening scene for instance, a lot of people won't get right away, because they won't immediately realize the setting or why the children have to go away (or how that later plays into the plotline). And I expect a LOT of bad fanfiction where other people find the entrance to Narnia through their closet or something...Anyways, Everyone who read the book knows about Digory Kirk (the Professor) and how he had the apple and the seed sprouted into a tree and he made the tree into a wardrobe (hence the woodcarving of the SYMBOLIC APPLE TREE OF ALLEGORY on its doors). There were a number of scenes added to appease the LOTR fans who want some action/fantasy scenes (pour example, the river melting scene, fox fight with Maugrim, the trees-talking-to-Peter scene), and the action sequences were very well-choreographed. The huge allegorical importance of the story and the lesson of forgiveness is very much kept. HOWEVER, that does not mean I can't point out the things I found VERY bad with this movie:
JADIS' HAIR. I know that's nit-picking, but it greatly disturbing to me that Jadis has blonde hair. In the illustrations, she has pitch black hair that falls like icicles around her head. In the movie, she has GOLDEN, SUNSHINY hair that is twisted around like plant roots. This makes me think of sunshine and nature and springtime--NOT winter. Furthermore, Lewis says that when she was standing before Aslan, his golden mane and bright countenance directly juxtaposed her dark, icy snake-like appearance. So when I was watching the movie, I realized she had the SAME hair color as ASLAN, and in the battle scene, she even wears this lion's-mane-like headpiece which is bright tan, and she doesn't look pale enough to offset it. Hence, she is not icy and reptilian enough for my tastes--nor for Lewis' symbolism.
INSERTED SCENES. Especially the one where Lucy and Susan "send out the Trees" to tell everyone of Aslan's death. GRRRRR!! Aslan was supposed to tell Peter he might not be there, and that was a HUGE piece of BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM used by CS Lewis. This scene was added to make up for a cut scene. Which brings me to my next point.
CUT SCENES. The first of which being the Christmas Party. This scene showed the cruelty of the White Witch and her HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL LOSS OF POWER due to Christmas' (THE HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL HOLIDAY) coming because Aslan (THE HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL LION) has appeared. Next scene cut was the one where Aslan talks to Peter about battle preparations. While it may seem like filler, this scene had a HUGE symbolic significance. The one where he makes Peter the commander in battle (as he is eldest and High King above the others) is fairly important and very ALLEGORICAL, but was CUT. Other minor scenes were cut which made their journey seem shorter.
DELETED/CHANGED DIALOGUE pissed me off more than the rest of these things combined. Aslan was very sarcastic in the HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL WALK THROUGH THE NOT-THE-GARDEN-OF-GETHESEMENE, saying instead of "Children, why are you following me?" "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Furthermore, Peter and Edmund's jokes after the apology made it seem insincere...And Lucy was more cynical than I cared for, but this was made up for by the adorable innocence of Georgie Henley. I suppose this was added as comic relief, but LOTS of important conversations were changed.
CUTS MADE FOR VIOLENCE. Violence was a big part o the book. The witch doesn't have Edmund draw her sleigh in the movie, and she doesn't use him as her slave, which annoyed me. In the final battle, there is no blood shown, we don't see Peter cleaning his sword, and we don't see the monsters whipping Aslan and tearing at his corpse. We don't even see the sword enter his flesh! GGRRRRRR. Disney should have watched The Passion before this scene to better understand its importance...
That's not to say I didn't love it. I love it. There were some things that I enjoyed more than others. Before the movie, I always liked Susan, but I never knew why. She seemed far-off, and I couldn't understand her, but I knew I liked her. The movie showed me why: Susan is JUST LIKE ME. She is bossy, and bookish, and introverted, and sometimes forgets that there are times when we need to think with our hearts instead of our heads. The acting in the movie was some of the best I've seen yet. William Moseley made for one brave (and cute ^^) Peter, Georgie Henley was adorable as Lucy, but the crowning achievement in my opinion was Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie. I never liked Edmund, I always thought he was the bad guy and evil and watching Keynes' acting made me realize: He's not evil. He's HUMAN. During Bible Club, my friend came down from college to visit, and she had been having a hard time in her life. Seeing Edmund's struggle with sin and his eventual forgiveness and salvation brought her to tears, and she realized how much God actually does for us and how much she just needed to stop being afraid of her fears and past problems, and move on toward a better future. I now place Edmund among my favorite characters list, right next to Susan and Jadis.
The movie's visual effects were stunning to say the least and truly brought the world CS Lewis created to life. And, despite the changes, the theme of the book is kept in the movie (forgiveness), and the allegory is still very apparent. All in all, probably the best Narnia ever. I've learned something very important from it too:
I have GOT to get a CHAIN-MAIL dress!
WARNING: This rant contains HUGE SPOILERS!
I dressed up as Jadis, Queen of Narnia, Empress of the Lone Islands, ruler or Archenland and the countries to the North, ex-Queen of Charn etc. etc...otherwise known as The White Witch, for the premiere. I had on my white Greco-Roman-ish costume, I put white body frosting all over my arms, neck, chest, and face, and used blue lipstick, blue eyeshadow, and light-blue powder as blush. I had an icicle crown and earrings and everything. I even ordered a Frosty from Wendys! I was a total Jadis fangirl.
I am THE Jadis fangirl Anyway, the movie started (and I threatened the two talking 9th graders in back of me with my new reprint-edition of the complete Chronicles), and here's my rant:
There is no way ANYONE who didn't read the book will get this. NO WAY. The opening scene for instance, a lot of people won't get right away, because they won't immediately realize the setting or why the children have to go away (or how that later plays into the plotline). And I expect a LOT of bad fanfiction where other people find the entrance to Narnia through their closet or something...Anyways, Everyone who read the book knows about Digory Kirk (the Professor) and how he had the apple and the seed sprouted into a tree and he made the tree into a wardrobe (hence the woodcarving of the SYMBOLIC APPLE TREE OF ALLEGORY on its doors). There were a number of scenes added to appease the LOTR fans who want some action/fantasy scenes (pour example, the river melting scene, fox fight with Maugrim, the trees-talking-to-Peter scene), and the action sequences were very well-choreographed. The huge allegorical importance of the story and the lesson of forgiveness is very much kept. HOWEVER, that does not mean I can't point out the things I found VERY bad with this movie:
JADIS' HAIR. I know that's nit-picking, but it greatly disturbing to me that Jadis has blonde hair. In the illustrations, she has pitch black hair that falls like icicles around her head. In the movie, she has GOLDEN, SUNSHINY hair that is twisted around like plant roots. This makes me think of sunshine and nature and springtime--NOT winter. Furthermore, Lewis says that when she was standing before Aslan, his golden mane and bright countenance directly juxtaposed her dark, icy snake-like appearance. So when I was watching the movie, I realized she had the SAME hair color as ASLAN, and in the battle scene, she even wears this lion's-mane-like headpiece which is bright tan, and she doesn't look pale enough to offset it. Hence, she is not icy and reptilian enough for my tastes--nor for Lewis' symbolism.
INSERTED SCENES. Especially the one where Lucy and Susan "send out the Trees" to tell everyone of Aslan's death. GRRRRR!! Aslan was supposed to tell Peter he might not be there, and that was a HUGE piece of BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM used by CS Lewis. This scene was added to make up for a cut scene. Which brings me to my next point.
CUT SCENES. The first of which being the Christmas Party. This scene showed the cruelty of the White Witch and her HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL LOSS OF POWER due to Christmas' (THE HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL HOLIDAY) coming because Aslan (THE HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL LION) has appeared. Next scene cut was the one where Aslan talks to Peter about battle preparations. While it may seem like filler, this scene had a HUGE symbolic significance. The one where he makes Peter the commander in battle (as he is eldest and High King above the others) is fairly important and very ALLEGORICAL, but was CUT. Other minor scenes were cut which made their journey seem shorter.
DELETED/CHANGED DIALOGUE pissed me off more than the rest of these things combined. Aslan was very sarcastic in the HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL WALK THROUGH THE NOT-THE-GARDEN-OF-GETHESEMENE, saying instead of "Children, why are you following me?" "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Furthermore, Peter and Edmund's jokes after the apology made it seem insincere...And Lucy was more cynical than I cared for, but this was made up for by the adorable innocence of Georgie Henley. I suppose this was added as comic relief, but LOTS of important conversations were changed.
CUTS MADE FOR VIOLENCE. Violence was a big part o the book. The witch doesn't have Edmund draw her sleigh in the movie, and she doesn't use him as her slave, which annoyed me. In the final battle, there is no blood shown, we don't see Peter cleaning his sword, and we don't see the monsters whipping Aslan and tearing at his corpse. We don't even see the sword enter his flesh! GGRRRRRR. Disney should have watched The Passion before this scene to better understand its importance...
That's not to say I didn't love it. I love it. There were some things that I enjoyed more than others. Before the movie, I always liked Susan, but I never knew why. She seemed far-off, and I couldn't understand her, but I knew I liked her. The movie showed me why: Susan is JUST LIKE ME. She is bossy, and bookish, and introverted, and sometimes forgets that there are times when we need to think with our hearts instead of our heads. The acting in the movie was some of the best I've seen yet. William Moseley made for one brave (and cute ^^) Peter, Georgie Henley was adorable as Lucy, but the crowning achievement in my opinion was Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie. I never liked Edmund, I always thought he was the bad guy and evil and watching Keynes' acting made me realize: He's not evil. He's HUMAN. During Bible Club, my friend came down from college to visit, and she had been having a hard time in her life. Seeing Edmund's struggle with sin and his eventual forgiveness and salvation brought her to tears, and she realized how much God actually does for us and how much she just needed to stop being afraid of her fears and past problems, and move on toward a better future. I now place Edmund among my favorite characters list, right next to Susan and Jadis.
The movie's visual effects were stunning to say the least and truly brought the world CS Lewis created to life. And, despite the changes, the theme of the book is kept in the movie (forgiveness), and the allegory is still very apparent. All in all, probably the best Narnia ever. I've learned something very important from it too:
I have GOT to get a CHAIN-MAIL dress!