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.
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.