The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - Essay Example

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe The adaptation of the book into a movie was initially opposed by Lewis. He was apprehensive that the movie would not do justice to the book. His reasoning was that the developing technology that is being used to create a movie often depicts man more corrupt than character development. The screen adaptation of the book in a certain way takes away the core essence of the book that is enough to disturb any Narnia fan. In Hollywood adaptations of books, liberties are always taken and to some extent they are acceptable. Moreover, for making any movie creative licence is almost always adopted by filmmakers to make the movie more attractive and appealing to movie audience; this is also valid to some extent. Keeping in mind the above factors, this paper explores the differences of this epic fantasy adventure film which was directed by Andrew Adamson and released in 2005, and the novel written by C.S Lewis and published in 1950. Although the first half of the film was annoying, the ultimate 40 minutes of the film can be considered as excellent more because the film ends with a positive message. The major difference between the book and the film that grabs the attention is the character manipulation of the Pevensie children. It means that the inherent characteristics of the children are portrayed in a different way in the film. In the book when the children are asked to save the city of Narnia from the evil witch, they immediately comply. Their characteristics imply commitment to doing good i.e. remaining in Narnia and accepting the challenges with bravery and dignity. On the other hand in the movie, Susan (youngest of the children) is depicted as a pacifist in situations that demand protestant movements to defend the good from evil. It is Susan’s character among the four children that have been largely restructured in the film. Peter (one of the brothers) and Susan in the entire film seem eager to escape from Narnia and go back home which is essentially a different message from the book. Lewis has designed the child characters as brave and selfless who are ready to cross any hurdles to defend the truth, while in the film they seem to think more of themselves than well-being of the natives of Narnia. In the book, it seems that the children can sense a higher calling to perform their duties towards Narnia, while in the film it seems that the children are either not aware of such calling or they do not seem to care about it. However, as mentioned before, the final 40 minutes of the film stands true to the book in depicting bravery in the face of the white witch and her evil minions. Peter becomes a responsible leader who diligently leads the Narnian army against the evil soldiers. The initial sequence of the war is set up in a way that the white witch’s army advances towards the children while the Narnian army is observing them from a hillside. Apparently Peter’s bravery is tested as victory seemed far fetched as the witch seemed to have more soldiers than Peter. Peter’s character manifestation became closest to the book when he yelled “FOR NARNIA! AND FOR ASLAN!” (Adamson) and leads his army into the battlefield for the sake of right over wrong. In the book Lewis has distinguished between the male and female characters in a very noble manner, and the movie very nicely complimented this aspect of the book. Lewis while writing about the war, took care to place the boys on the front lines of the battles. It was the boys who took all the initiatives in war strategies and accepted all the physical injuries only to protect Narnia from being overtaken by the white witch. The girls, on the other hand, encouraged those who were preparing to join the war. Lucy (one of the sisters) had received healing liquid as a gift from Father Christmas, and she used it to heal the wounds of the Narnian army. She acted as nurse for the injured members of the army. In the latter part of the movie Lucy became the emotional manifestation of the golden lion Aslan who was the epitome of goodness and justice. Lewis’s creation of Lucy is very much praiseworthy and Adamson in his film did not manipulate the gender roles that were depicted in the book. This part remained similar to the book. There are several other differences between the book and the film. These are mainly done to create a thrilling factor in the film. For instance, the children at one point of time hide in the house of beaver to protect themselves from the white witch. The witch on knowing this sends her dogs to capture them. In the book the children escape before the dogs can reach them, but in the film the children escaped through an underground tunnel as the dogs managed to reach the beaver’s house before the children could run away. Although this difference does not affect the story in any way, it manages to create suspense in the film. The second difference was the way all the four children arrived in the city of Narnia. The children had been pre-warned that they are to make themselves scarce when any visitor would arrive in the house they were staying. In the book the housekeeper Ms. Macready was showing the interior of the house to some visitors, and in order to hide from them the children got into the wardrobe only to find themselves in an area surrounded by trees with snow at their feet. In the film the children were playing a ball game in the garden when accidentally Edmund (the second youngest child) hits the ball and it goes through the upstairs window and destroys a suit of armor. To find out the damage the children walk into the upstairs room when they hear the footsteps of someone. Out of fear that Ms Macready might be coming to scold them for the damage done the children hide into wardrobe. The third difference can be observed in the scene where Edmund was rescued from the white witch. In the book, the scene is described such that Edmund is tied to a tree while the witch holds a sharp knife while standing in front of him, apparently with the intention of murdering him. A dwarf was also standing nearby. Meanwhile Aslan has dispatched few members of his army to rescue Edmund, but when they arrived at the spot the witch and the dwarf were nowhere to be seen. This is because the witch with her magical powers turned herself and the dwarf into a boulder and a tree stump. In the film the only similarity was that Edmund was tied to a tree, but there the witch was not threatening him with a knife. She was also not aware of the impending army of Aslan. So, the army rescued Edmund and tied the dwarf to the tree instead. Other than these differences there are other very minute differences, but all of these do not have any impact whatsoever on the story. For instance the white witch is described in the book as having black hair and wearing a crown made of pure gold. In the film the witch is depicted as blond and the crown is made with ice. There is also difference in the depiction of Father Christmas in the book and the film. In the book Father Christmas is portrayed as a big sized man with a jolly demeanor, and wears a red suit. In the film this character seems subdued and does not wear a red suit, and overall does not match with people’s normal expectations regarding Father Christmas (Adamson; Lewis). The book is filled with Christian metaphors and has an adventurous plot clearly to entice the young readers. The novel is appealing to most filmmakers because it has all the elements to attract both mainstream and the Christian market. Each element of the novel has become iconic for Christian children. The novel theme of the book depicts four children straying through a magical wardrobe to reach into a different world Narnia that has eternal winter because of a curse of an evil witch, and how the children help an altruistic lion Aslan to overthrow the witch to protect the residents of Narnia. The novel is known for Lewis’s use of Christian themes like “repentance, sacrifice and incarnation.” (McKenzie, 25) Although the film has largely been created from the perspective of Hollywood men with pure business sense, this cannot hide the fact that the film has been able to retain the iconic greatness of Lewis’s novel. Moreover, Adamson has to a large extent made a successful adaptation of the novel. For most viewers, “the film offers a faithful retelling of the book, with no attempt to unravel its allegorical elements.” (McKenzie, 25) Conclusion On the whole, the film is enjoyable because it has done full justice to the book by remaining true to the core values of the book. In spite of using several creative liberties to cater to the money-minded Hollywood men, Adamson has to most extent retained the true elements of the novel. References Adamson, Andrew. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, (film) 2005 Lewis, Clive Staples. The Lion, the witch & the wardrobe, Oberon Books, 2012 McKenzie, Tim “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought & Practice, 14.1 (2006) 25-26 Read More