Lions and witches and wardrobes, oh my
There's a pretty good review of the new Narna movie up at the CBC; even if you don't like the rest of it, the review is worth it for precisely describing why Tilda Swinton never quite works in films set in the modern day: "it’s like bumping into the Faerie Queene at the Gap".
One thing the review mentions in passing is Philip Pullman's acidic disdain for the series. I've never read His Dark Materials, but Pullman's conduct isn't making me eager to do so. This article sketches out and refutes Pullman's arguments, and although the author is too easy on Lewis, unless the quotations from Pullman's books are wildly out of context I'm not so sure I want to read him. Viciously dogmatic atheists are just as unpleasent to read as viciously dogmatic Christians. The article is very well argued, but I'm mostly glad I read it for a great line from Lewis ("When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness") and the fact that Nelson includes pretty much all of Peter's fight with Maugrim the wolf from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardobe, which is extremely well done:
Peter did not feel very brave; he felt he was going to be sick... Then came a horrible, confused moment like something in a nightmare. He was tugging and pulling and the Wolf seemed neither alive nor dead, and its bared teeth knocked against his forehead, and everything was blood and heat and hair.
Re-reading the book recently, that passage was one of the few that lived up to my memory of the series from my childhood.
One thing the review mentions in passing is Philip Pullman's acidic disdain for the series. I've never read His Dark Materials, but Pullman's conduct isn't making me eager to do so. This article sketches out and refutes Pullman's arguments, and although the author is too easy on Lewis, unless the quotations from Pullman's books are wildly out of context I'm not so sure I want to read him. Viciously dogmatic atheists are just as unpleasent to read as viciously dogmatic Christians. The article is very well argued, but I'm mostly glad I read it for a great line from Lewis ("When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness") and the fact that Nelson includes pretty much all of Peter's fight with Maugrim the wolf from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardobe, which is extremely well done:
Peter did not feel very brave; he felt he was going to be sick... Then came a horrible, confused moment like something in a nightmare. He was tugging and pulling and the Wolf seemed neither alive nor dead, and its bared teeth knocked against his forehead, and everything was blood and heat and hair.
Re-reading the book recently, that passage was one of the few that lived up to my memory of the series from my childhood.
While Constantine wasn't a great movie, Tilda Swinton made a really good androgynous Angel.
I put her right up there with the guy who played Ra in Stargate.
Posted by
Gordon |
2:19 PM
I'd actually put her above - she's done more movies, and better acting in them. Check our Orlando some time, if you're feeling adventurous.
Posted by
Ian |
3:06 PM
Don't read the Pullman books. I have no idea what his thoughts are on Narnia, but that series is a serious disappointment. This first book is strange/good enough to make you keen on the second. It's all downhill from there.
Posted by
Jeromy Lloyd |
12:59 PM
Duly noted.
Posted by
Ian |
2:12 PM
I read the His Dark Materials trilogy and really enjoyed it, though I thought the books were subversive in a way no writing for children has a right to be--specifically, Pullman exploits several important characters in the story, including the heroine and another child, and allows them to fall beyond the grasp of the natural laws of his narrative universe. I don't mean that he kills them, though his attitude towards child sexualization and violence in the books is ambivalent at best, but he's voyeuristic and exploitive towards them throughout. He doesn't follow his own rules and breaks covenant with the characters and the reader. I know that sounds twee but I'm remembering plot-specific details that would utterly spoil the plot for you (and I'd encourage you to read the books, especially if you like fantasy).
Also, I thought his remarks about Narnia that the writer of the article you mentioned refuted were almost insane, let alone mistaken.
Posted by
Rachel |
2:11 PM
"Almost insane" sounds about right, or at least bearing no relation to the books I've read.
But you think I should still check him out? Hmm...
Posted by
Ian |
3:36 PM
The list of writers who are almost insane is long and illustrious, as I'm sure you concur. But I never advocate not reading anything unless it contains truly offensive material, like graphic gore, pornography, or child abuse. Even then. Maybe a qualified "read if you're able" or "skim over this chapter." In the case of a writer working in the same genre as Lewis (one that owes a lot to Lewis in terms of tradition/marketability), who shares his nationality and has a similar background and profession, who is so vehemently against the popular grain, I couldn't help reading his books. Plus many evangelical Christians gave his books a pass like they did J.K. Rowling's, and I hate being told I can't read something.
Posted by
Rachel |
6:56 AM