Quotes about the film version of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
by Duncan Rize, Summer 2005
C. S. Lewis has a remarkable body of work mostly revolving around the subject of Christian apologetics. His estate is handled today by his stepson, Douglas Gresham.
In keeping with the upcoming Narnia film, Gresham has issued a joint statement together with publisher HarperCollins in saying, "The goal of HarperCollins Publishers and the C. S. Lewis Estate is to publish the works of C. S. Lewis to the broadest possible audience, and to leave any interpretation of the works to the reader. The works of C. S. Lewis will continue to be published by HarperCollins and Zondervan as written by the author, with no alteration. Zondervan's editorial standards and Christian mission [have] not changed in any way."
Gresham is the co-producer of the film and was involved in the process of filming. According to Gresham, the film is “visually beautiful” and most importantly, the story is adhered to. Is has been reported that the movie is very true to the book and reflects the Christian beliefs of C. S. Lewis.
Still, he [Gresham] notes that the film is not a “Christian” movie, in the same way that the Narnia chronicles were not meant to be “Christian” books. He makes the distinction that making use of Christian symbolism in the film does not automatically qualify it to be so. "Much like the book, you will find in the movie as much Christian symbolism as you want to. I know lots and lots of people who have read the book and never dreamt there was any Christian symbolism in it….. This is not a Christian movie, any more than Jack [C.S. Lewis] decided to sit down and write a Christian book. In fact, Jack himself said, 'We do not need more people writing Christian books, what we need is more Christians writing good books.'" Many people say that the only “things” that can be truly Christian are people. Other things, in themselves, reflect values of people whether they be Christian values or otherwise.
In a reply to fifth-graders based in Maryland who wanted to know whether the Narnia chronicles were based on the Bible, Lewis wrote, ”I did not say to myself 'Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia'; I said 'Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as he became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen'”.
Lewis himself, though, was not an avid fan of Hollywood it should be noted. He believed that when translating word to image, the imagination dies. In spite of this, the filming has pushed through and will show up in theaters this Christmas, and the general consensus is that it is a good adaptation of his work.
Links and Resources
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45754
http://www.narniaweb.com/news.asp?id=394&dl=4209890
http://www.narniafans.com/movies/mov_lww.php
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/389/389498p1.html
Duncan Rize loves the writings of C.S. Lewis and works with the marketing group at www.LearningByGrace.org. Learning by Grace manages of a number of internationally known online K-12 academies including www.TheGraceAcademy.org, www.TheJubileeAcademy.org, www.TheMorningStarAcademy.org and www.TheNarniaAcademy.org . This article is © 2005 ELRN, Inc. and may be quoted in whole or part as long as the author (Duncan Rize) and source (www.TheNarniaAcademy.org) are credited.
