Return to Narnia

Maureen's Musings - Friday, May 16th, 2008

Thursday, May 15, 2008

My father first read The Chronicles of Narnia to me when I was in second grade. From there on out I became an avid reader, but rarely has a book (or book series) impacted me as deeply as C. S. Lewis’ classic fairy tales.

Passionate as I am about Narnia, I must acknowledge that Prince Caspian isn’t a paragon of literary perfection. In fact, it may be the weakest book in the series in terms of plotline. Lewis, perhaps not as neat and tidy an author as his friend J. R. R. Tolkien, occasionally allowed his story lines to wander. His fiction-writing style often consisted of sharp, detailed mental images or scenes strung together by comparatively limp action, like beads on a necklace. Not only can you see this pattern in Caspian, but also in The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”, The Silver Chair and in Perelandra, the second book in Lewis’ sci-fi trilogy.

Personally, I find this trait in Lewis’ storytelling rather endearing. The wonderful thing about his books is that no matter how slow the plot seems, the “pearls of wisdom” strung along the way are worth more than the cleanest, most polished narrative. Prince Caspian contains several such jewels.

In chapters 9 and 10, the four Pevensie children and Trumpkin the Dwarf find themselves wandering (along with the plot) through a tangled wood as they struggle to reach Prince Caspian and his weary army on the other side of a rocky gorge. For a fleeting second, Lucy, the youngest, spies Aslan the Great Lion beckoning the group to follow him. Despite Lucy’s pleas, they head in the opposite direction, consequently losing an entire day to faulty directions and run-ins with enemy soldiers.

That night Aslan calls Lucy to him. He instructs her to wake the others and urge them to follow him even though he will be invisible to all but Lucy.

“But they won’t believe me!” said Lucy.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Aslan….“I will wait here. Go and wake the others and tell them to follow. If they will not, then you at least must follow me alone.”

I love this scene. In a broad sense it appeals to everyone who has ever experienced the humiliation and isolation that frequently accompanies taking the road “less traveled by”. Yet, in my view, this interchange also speaks specifically to the heart of Christian discipleship.

For Christ-followers, practicing good discipleship means being close enough to God to hear and recognize His voice, as Lucy does Aslan’s. It also means responding with humility to His discipline, which Lucy does, both when Aslan stops her from gossiping about the others and when she realizes that she should have obeyed him when he first appeared.

Most frighteningly, Christian discipleship also means following God’s directions, even if they seem counterintuitive to human instincts—as when Aslan leads the children and Dwarf over through the dark gorge, with only the moon for light. It reminds me of Isaiah 42:16:

“ I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,/ along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;/ I will turn the darkness into light before them/ and make the rough places smooth./ These are the things I will do;/ I will not forsake them.”

Such are my reflections on Prince Caspian as I get ready to see the film adaptation at 12:01 AM tonight. I imagine that this has been a challenging story for the filmmakers to transfer to the silver screen. The same slowness of plot that is forgivable in a book is largely unacceptable in a movie. But my hope is that in adapting Caspian for their medium, director Andrew Adamson and his crew have not overlooked its wisdom. More on this tomorrow…

Friday, May 16, 2008

I’ll admit I was bracing myself for the same letdown I experienced after seeing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in 2005. Happily, I was surprised by a significant improvement in the overall quality of Caspian. (Beware of plot spoilers.)

What they did right

Story line: My hat’s off to Adamson and his writers. They took a choppy narrative and molded it into a film-friendly plot that avoided much confusion. And they did it without using any flashbacks! That in and of itself deserves some praise. Most of the additions to the plot, like the night raid on Miraz’s castle, worked well. By and large, it benefited the development of story and characters rather than distracting from them.

Cinematography: The film looks gorgeous, more on par with The Lord of the Rings than with Enchanted. As promised, this film is darker and grittier than the first. The camera work and visual tone of the film adequately represent this more grown-up feel.

Visual effects and battle sequences: The computer-generated imagery (CGI) in Caspian looked much more polished than it did in Lion. As for the battles, I felt the climactic clash of the Narnians and the Telmarines outside Aslan’s How went on longer than necessary. However, the one-on-one fight between Peter and Miraz was spectacularly choreographed and filmed. Although no blood or guts are seen, the intensity of the battles increased significantly from the first film.

Faith elements: Most surprising of all, the religious undertones didn’t have as embarrassing a swept-under-the-rug feel as I anticipated. The movie doesn’t plunge as far into the deep religious waters as Lewis’ book and it does shift themes around to suit the changes they made to the character development, but it still works for the most part.

I was concerned about the alterations in Peter’s personality. In the book, he always behaves in a manner behooving a High King. In the film, he struggles with egotistical pride and lack of faith, to the point where he clashes with Caspian and leads the Narnians into bad situations. However, good came out of this change in faith-bolstering themes of leading by serving, trust in God’s (Aslan’s) timing, and the consequences of disobedience and pride.

What they didn’t do right

Pacing: Although the plot remains easy enough to follow, the action hardly stops from opening scene to closing credits. The breathless pacing and almost constant conflicts or battles leaves no room for the other side of Narnia.

In the book, Aslan not only strategically aids in the big battle, he also sets townspeople free from the monotonous, oppressive Telmarine rule by leading a wild romp through the villages, knocking down government buildings and inviting everyone who dares to join him. After victory is won, the Narnians celebrate with a bonfire, a huge feast, and a night of dancing. This is what Narnia truly looks like, when all is well. But the film overlooks it.

Romance: This particular thorn irked me more than anything else. Adamson allowed a small romance to develop between Susan and Caspian. It was completely unnecessary, and, worse, led to some nauseatingly cheesy lines in an otherwise good script. Unlike the adjustments to Peter’s character, this new element didn’t strengthen the story or the characters; it distracts, rather like a fly buzzing in your ear.

Placed in the context of the film as a whole, these objections do only slight damage to the quality of Adamson’s work because he did a satisfactory job. I’m looking forward to seeing Prince Caspian again with all of my fellow RTB personnel.