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Narnia lives, at least until "The Last Battle"Disney's panel at Comic-Con gave Narnia fans some good news (well, probably). Besides talk about Prince Caspian (set to be released in 2008), the company officially announced intentions to make the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia into movies, releasing one a year. I'm sure I'll see Prince Caspian (one of my favorite moments from the entire series is Susan beating the dwarf in an archery match in the ruins of Cair Paravel, not to mention Reepicheep!). But what I'm really waiting for is The Magician's Nephew. I just have one request. Please, people, please — remember that Jadis is the White Witch who must be Tilda Swinton.
I've been a Swinton fan for awhile, at least since she cross-dressed her way through the centuries in Orlando. Her turn as bisexual in Female Perversions didn't hurt (though it did nothing for the crazed bisexual stereotype). And even though I nodded off in every other scene of the movie, I really loved her sociopathic angel in Constantine. Nobody plays deranged quite like Swinton.
This is why she was perfect for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Jadis is my absolute favorite Narnian. I can't explain it. She's arrogant and inhumanly cruel and a temptress who preys on human weakness. Or maybe that's it; she ate that apple and isn't sorry a bit. (Plus there's the Deplorable Word, and what fascination that held for a kiddie destined to be an English major.) Swinton's White Witch was perfect, totally void of emotion — not to mention most of her pigment — and completely entrancing. At least if you're me.
Shortly after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe wrapped, Swinton and Skandar Keynes (Edmund) spoke with IFILM.com. Swinton's hair is obviously still in shock from the role, but she's entertaining when she muses about the prospect of children running screaming from her for the rest of her life. Excited as I am at the prospect of regular Narnian installments, I do worry about the pace of production. These are complicated movies requiring huge amounts of animation, and one a year seems awfully quick (although Peter Jackson managed with that little project of his, Lord of the Rings). If Disney is gambling that Narnia could be the new Harry Potter of movie franchises, maybe they'll throw in enough money to make it work. At least I hope so. Because I really, really want to see Tilda Swinton spoil Narnia's Garden of Eden. And so does she.
Submitted by on July 31, 2007 - 9:00am. |
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Narnian Chronicles
I look forward to seeing what some contemporary "movie magic" can do with this new version. (Of course...I already know that they have a great story.)
Oh...and I always thought that the female characters were very strong and intelligent in these tales (especially in comparison to some of the female characters in other children's books).
The old tv versions of The
YAY im so pleased to hear
YAY im so pleased to hear this!
These were by far my favourite books growing up and after The lion, the witch & the wardrobe it is definitely The Magician's Nephew, soooo cant wait to see that!
I also agree that the women were very strong and intelligent characters in the books, one of the many reasons they still remain my favourite's.
I don't know...
Hmmm...
Is anyone else suspect that
Is anyone else suspect that they actually won't make The Horse and his Boy since it falls out of the timeline of the books and doesn't actually focus on any of the Pevensies, Jill or Eustace?
I really hope they do actually make The Magician's Nephew too, since it is often unfairly overlooked.
I think it's very likely...
...but chiefly because the book has caused some controversy over racial stereotyping (never mind C.S.Lewis's other troubled quirks in the series e.g. the vindictive schoolyard retribution at the end of The Silver Chair).
Personally, it's my favourite book in the series because it's a classic adventure fantasy/romance that is immersed within the world of "Narnia", during it's golden age. I adored Aravis and don't think that the more negative Calormene characterisations (e.g. Prince Rabadash and the Vizier) are any more extraordinary or stereotypical than what you might find in the Arabian Nights. However, it's not hard to see that they have topical sensitivity because of who C.S.Lewis was, his beliefs, and the social situation today.
I was always fascinated by the fact that the Pevenses grew up and lived full adult lives for years before returning to our world. Not for prurient reasons; it simply fed my imagination so that even when I had finished "The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe", their tale kept evolving in my head, becoming a "true epic" in the process. It also contributes to the tragedy over the "loss" of Susan.
I agree that the Magician's Nephew is unfairly overlooked, although it wasn't until I was a bit older and reread the books, that I really enjoyed it.
I also wasn't too happy with the Disney adaptation: it failed to properly capture the sheer mythological paganism that also runs through the book and the vital, dark, elegantly spiky quality in Pauline Baynes wonderful illustrations.
Horse and His Boy was my favourite too!
Because it's such a wonderful story, and then at the end it ties into the Golden Age of the Pevenses, which I'd always wanted to know more about. I wish C.S. Lewis had set another book in Narnia during their reign; it always seemed such a shame that we only really got hints of what it was like. Plus Shasta got to be incorporated into the wider world of Narnia, which was my dream as child. And Avaris was a great female character who was stronger than Shasta in many ways -- not exactly commonplace in children's fantasy. Man, I loved that book. I may go read it again right now.
Wrt the films...Dawn Treader was my second favourite and I'm sure it'll be made, so I have that one at least, but it would be a real shame if Horse and His Boy got left out. They haven't said that, though, so hopefully it's included. Silver Chair and Last Battle I can definitely do without. I read Last Battle once aged about seven, had the absolute shit scared out of me, and haven't gone near it since.
I've always thought of The
I'd never thought of it like
Tilda Swinton as Jadis was
Tilda Swinton as Jadis was the best almost-birthday present I've ever received. Like you, Jadis has always been my favorite character, and given that they love to show off their effects, I'm hoping for a flashback to the battle where she used said Deplorable Word.
Hurrah! An excuse to obsess
Hurrah! An excuse to obsess further about Narnia. For some reason, those books have become my comfort reading when real life gets a little too...real. But every time I re-read them I find more troubling questions. For instance, why is Narnia so sexless? Ok, it's a children's series, but Peter et al live entire adult lives there and none of them get married? Then in The Last Battle (don't get me started on that symbolism-fest), we find out that Polly Plummer never married either. Is sex equated with being grown up, and therefore outside of Lewis' view that 'nobility' is somehow the same as maintaining childhood purity for ever? Ref Susan and her being 'no longer a friend of Narnia'. I'd be worried how the new films will tackle such points.
Anyway, I'll stop before I embarrass myself still further.
I think it has the same place you see in most fairy tales...
...sex is there behind things but never really alluded to: The Horse and his Boy is a good example since it directly involves a marriage proposition. Prince Cor and his wife also have children...I think even the horses do, although not together.
Susan's fate in the tale, however, is almost certainly tied up in C.S.Lewis's life and, like the Last Battle, is a disturbing insight into his private demons. He was a decent man but a product of his times and a terrible, terrific war.