Saturday, December 31, 2005

Narnia

Just saw it, courtesy of one of the kids--birthday present.

Even if you have NOT read the books (I have not), the flick absolutely oozes Roman Catholic symbolism. Likely will take at least two viewings to internalize/list all of it. There's a lot there; the light/dark stuff, the flower of Jesse, the eagles, (yes, Ms. Asquith, we paid attention;) the score's vaguely Dies Irae turn at Aslan's death--and OT references, as well--Lion of Judah, Isaac/Christ...

There was a lot reminiscent of the Gibson "Passion," too (unsurprisingly.) Frankly, I liked the score better than Mel's; it fits better into the scheme and is more apprehensible.

The Titanic Battle stuff is interesting. Clearly, Lewis did not view Kumbaya as a viable Christian theological position. The child-less-ness of the Ice Queen, who reigns in (dark) Winter is also a good, targeted hit.

Lewis certainly clarified sin and likes auricular confession, eh?

It's worth the $6.00/head. Go see it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it scary?

Dad29 said...

Not really--unless you take the Devil seriously--and the pomps and works.

But it's not a 'scary' movie.

WI Catholic said...

My 9 year old grandson, and my five year old grand daughter LOVED it. My granddaughter wants to see it again, and wants the DVD "TODAY, MOM!" My grandson is now reading the books. Not scary at all! And they both understood that Aslan was Jesus....

My 23 yr old son grew up on the stories, and he went with me also, and he also liked it. I loved it, saw it twice (with daughter and grandkids, and with son).

Anonymous said...

I'm a big fan of the Narnia books and have read the entire series many times. I would caution about taking the story as a strictly allegorical tale. Although Lewis was a devout Christian and there is a lot of Christian threads running through the story, there are also a lot of other themes and thoughts. If you read some of the other books - some of which are quite a bit darker than The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, you'll get what I mean.

I'm glad you liked it though. I hope this movie opens up Narnia to a new generation or two.

- Owen
www.bootsandsabers.com

Dad29 said...

The film is far more "Catholic" (or Anglo-Catholic) than many critics think. And to be honest, I think that one who is over the age of 40 (or 50) will appreciate the RC imagery and allegories far more than a younger person--you know, time-in-grade.

Owen, I agree that the movie is not a "pure" allegory of the Economy of Salvation--

It would be VERY interesting to know more about the production people and the director.

Anonymous said...

The movie did a very good job of staying true to the book. It embellished a few things and left out a few others, but nothing that affected the main story.

-Owen
www.bootsandsabers.com