Jadis, Aslan, Four Humans, and Winter Hell

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2006)

After the massive success of LORD OF THE RINGS it would be only fitting to continue the exploration of other dimensions as created by equally talented authors, so when it was announced that C. S. Lewis' THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDBROBE would be given the film treatment I was more than anxious to see what would come of it. Early screenings gave it great reviews, and when I viewed I wasn't disappointed despite the Christ references.
Four children are sent away from their London home to a professor's estate in the countryside in order to escape the bombings from the Nazi invaders. What they find there, aside from a severe place not unlike what V. C. Andrews would depict in FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, is a wardrobe that opens the doors to another world -- a parallel one if you may -- in which winter is ever present, but Christmas never takes place. This is Narnia, and it is under control of the White Witch Jadis who is aware of a prophecy that four humans will put an end to her wintry empire, and sets out her minions against the children who have entered her world while bribing one of them -- the rebellious Edmund -- to join her as she holds him prisoner much like the witch in Hansel and Gretel did. Her plans are to overthrow the Lion King, Aslan, and rule forever. Parallels to her world and the world as threatened by the Nazis are striking, and Tilda Swinton's transformation into the very Aryan looking Jadis is chilling, more so in her seductiveness. At times I was reminded of Cate Blanchett (they have very similar features), but I think Blanchett is to Galadriel as Swinton is to Jadis. Marvelous actresses both, but Swinton can claim her breakthrough with her role here.
With much less gravitas than the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA arrives much faster to its goal than the former does and the reason is that the books C. S. Lewis wrote are fairly slim volumes while J. R. R. Tolkien's book is a massive tome. Also, there is always the sense that the NARNIA books are more geared towards children and for much of the movie's duration there is little doubt that this is what it is: its four leads are children, many of the talking animals they meet are drawn in a way to appeal to children, and even the White Witch's castle has a storybook quality to it. Only in the appearance of Aslan does the story take a much more adult form, and its Messianic theme will not be lost on the older audience. Even so, the implications surrounding Aslan's self immolation can be interpreted in non-religious forms: if anything, it's also very similar to Gandalf's fall into the pit with the Balrog in tow in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Both character's 'death' symbolize their own necessary transmogrification, only to arise more powerful than before and take their troops to victory.
NARNIA is a visually stunning film even in its quiet moments when the children, one by one, are entering its world through the wardrobe. I was reminded of Stephen King's DARK TOWER series: unless the characters believed in the world behind the wardrobe, it didn't exist, and this is true here. Narnia only exists if you believe hard enough in it, and time, of course, stops... or let's say, it marches at a totally different beat, also visible in Stephen King's DARK TOWER series.
Performances are quite remarkable, especially for a fantasy film. All of the actors doing the voice overs bring their characters to bubbling life, and Liam Neeson as Aslan is wise and all-knowing. The child actors are definitely comfortable in their roles and while I saw glimpses of the children of the aforementioned V. C. Andrews Gothic novel, they are real people: The younger ones fare better than the older ones, but then again they are on screen more and their stories are more crucial than the older ones although all four eventually converge into the climactic battle sequence.
All in all a great film, equally meant to be enjoyed by children and adults alike, and one which should spawn a very interesting following.