The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Magnificent
The Chronicles of Narnia is a magical trip into a world of fantasy and childhood imagination.
by: Chelsea Town
The In a movie drought, where a precious few films out during 2005 had any
entertainment value or intellectual stimulation, The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe finally brought a movie to the theaters
worth going to. While most of the credit behind the storyline must go to
the writer, C.S. Lewis, the film itself is also a credit of the imagination.
Through a talented score of actors, heartwarming characters and a brilliant
tale, The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the best, if not the top film of
2005.
For those of you who may have read the book back in Elementary School and have a few fuzzy memories of a magical world hidden in a wardrobe (or for those who never read the book at all) here is a brief synopses. Four children are forced to leave their mother in London during World War II and go live with an old professor in the countryside. In his castle-like home filled with historical artifacts and a treasure of rooms to explore, the youngest child, Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) finds an ornately carved wooden wardrobe. While in need of a hiding place for the Hide and Seek game the children play one afternoon, Lucy stumbles into the closest filled with old fur coats. While stepping backwards towards the back wooden wall, she is amazed to find that instead of a wall she steps into snow and pine trees of an enchanted forest known as Narnia. After exploring for a while and running into a faun (half-human and half-deer), Lucy returns at his warning that it’s not safe for her to stay. When she tries to excitedly share this with her older brothers and sister she is crushed when no one believes her. It isn’t until later when they all stumble into the closet to escape the scolding housemaid that they also see Narnia first hand and finally believe Lucy. From there they find that they have a mission to full fill of a proportion they would never have believed possible.
As regards to the characters and casting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was a complete success with zero flaws in any of the major characters. Typically you can pick up something about a character that just doesn’t feel quite right, but not with this movie. All of the main characters were believable and enchanting. In particular was the White Witch (Tilda Swinter). She is one of the best villains I’ve seen in a long time and a fantastic representation of the frigid ice queen. When you actually see her for the first time she is the epitome of an ice monarch, dressed in opulent white with furs draped around her, an icicle crown and even her eyelashes on her ghostly pale face have bits of frost resting on their tips. She completely looks the part. When she tries to get what she wants out of the youngest son, Edmund (Skandar Kaynes), she comes off perfectly as a loving mother-type who wishes to spoil her new young friend. But when things don’t quite go her way she shows her true ice-cold character with not the slightest bit of sympathy or regret for her evil deeds.
Along with the casting perfection of the White Witch, the kids were the fantastic ideals of the little Pevensie children. Particularly Lucy whose innocence, optimism and adorable trust in those she ran into gave a true feeling of a child can do no evil. She, the youngest and most naïve, appeared as the most intuitive of the children when it came to understanding the ways of Narnia. It’s easy to see that the two oldest children, Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley), had a much hardened approach to life due to the fact that they’d both been removed from their mom and dad therfore feeling the need to take a parental approach in their parent's absence. But it isn’t until Lucy and Edmund lead them into this mystical world that they start to return to the children they still are.
The strongest of all points of this movie, taking it over the top in its excellence, is how the movie truly encapsulates the idea of Lewis’ book in a way which makes you feel the words that have often been read are clearly and accurately visualized. Perhaps this is how one feels after watching the Passion of the Christ where watching the Biblical message finally makes you say, “That’s what it’s all about!” Narnia has a unique way of showing the audience the meaning behind Christ’s actions and why the death, humiliation, and sacrifice for others had to happen, as well as how awful it was. The sadness and the glory are all there in the movie and the visual impact is stunning. The lion, Aslan (the voice of Liam Neeson), portrayed the death in such a moving way that you could hardly believe you were watching CGI. The taunting of the other animals and the cruelty shown by the Witch without remorse is all the more moving when coupled with the sad but accepting lion. He is nothing else but real in this movie.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, again the White Witch plays her role in complete perfection. As the opposite to Aslan she portrays such a stunning vision of evil and temptation. From the beginning when we see her trying to tempt the human child, later proclaiming that he was a traitor to the faun “for sweeties,” it makes you think about the frivolity of it all. If something as trivial and temporary as eating sweets is really the price you pay for your life then you’d have to be an idiot to ever make that bargain. But how far is it really from the truth of sinning in your life (temporary immediate satisfaction) in exchange for living out eternity in punishment for your earthly wrong-doings? The realization visually given to you in the movie hits you so clearly. The other facet of her character that was played so smoothly and perfectly was the fact that nothing moved her emotionally and nothing caused her fear except for Aslan. Again the parallel to the Bible brings the point home. She never shows any emotion but anger or false kindness to everyone but she quailed, just as the devil did, to none but Aslan (just as with Jesus).
The parallels are unmistakable and portrayed in the movie, Narnia, in a way in which even a child could understand how important the lion’s sacrifice was. While the story was Lewis’ the movie gave it full honors in the retelling. Visually the scenery was beautiful, the CGI of the unusual creatures of Narnia was very lifelike and the fantasy was completed by the endearing acting of the movie’s star characters. Your best bet for films of 2005 is the Chronicles of Narnia where you’ll find a movie to touch your soul and remind you of how special childhood is.
