The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - A Christian Appreciation
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - A Christian Appreciation -->
By Sister Wendy Ooi, fsp
“Someday you will be old enough to start reading (watching) fairy tales again”—
Preface to “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”
(Warning: This article contains spoilers for those not familiar with the plot)
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA – THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (“Narnia”), the film adaptation of C. S. Lewis’ book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, will appeal to more than just Christians.
It is a fantasy adventure of four children who discover Narnia, a magical world filled with talking animals and mythical fauns and centaurs.
Unfortunately, Narnia is under the spell of the evil White Witch, who has cursed Narnia with perpetual winter “but never Christmas”. The children battle the Witch to free Narnia forever from her spell with the help of Aslan, the noble and mighty lion.
Lewis’ imaginary world of Narnia has taken more than half a century since the publication of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in 1950 to come to the big screen. One reason may be that only today’s film technology and Computer-Generated Imagery makes possible a realistic portrayal of Narnia and her inhabitants. Another possible reason is the commercial viability of Christian-theme movies following the enormous success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”.
Though “Narnia” does not include everything in the book, and there are even slight changes from it, it is a faithful adaptation and fans of C. S. Lewis will not be disappointed. While cherished as a fairy tale with mythic motifs on one level, a deeper perspective reveals beautiful Christian allegories.
(Continue reading on The Catholic News)
1 comment:
Stolen from Fr Aloysius' blog. http://alongcorner.blogspot.com/2005/12/lovely-meaning.html
Lovely Meaning...
"None of the children knew who Aslan was anymore than you do; but the moment the Beaver who spoken these words, everyone felt quite different.... either a terrifying one (dream) which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words... that you remember it all your life... wishing you could get into that dream again." (Chapter 7, A Day with the Beavers, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)
That was how I felt after watching the movie last evening with an outing with some friends over at Suntec City Mall. It left behind a 'magical' feeling that was "... too lovely to put into words".
I read the entire chronicles when I was younger and found it exciting and 'nice' on a very superficial level. But after much older now and been through a great deal to reach where I am today, the story as encountered last evening resonated much differently.
It has reached out to audiences in so many different levels that no matter whether you are a child, young adult, middle age or a doddering geriatric, you will certainly take away something worthwhile from this movie. For myself, I can't help but see much of my faith that I believe and struggling to live out, being displayed with such subtle finesse that I admire and take my hat off to CS Lewis for his craft of story-telling, skillfully placed within the genre of children's storybooks.
It is so rich with mythic and symbolic elements that the entire story was literally soaked with the dimension which only a Christian can identify with: virtues, sacrifice, resurrection, life, death, truth, betrayal, honesty, bravery and desires, just to name a few. It helps that Lewis himself, after a period of being an agnostic, became a Christian later in his life. His vision of the Christian life, meaning and its promises can all be seen embedded lovingly in his Chronicles of Narnia. It is his way of wanting to share by inviting us, through our child within us (which never really gone away), into the very depths of His kingdom that awaits us, if we truly believe...
"Yes, of course you'll get back to Narnia again some day... It'll happen when you are not looking for it." (Chapter 17, The Hunting of the White Stag, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)
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