The Lion, The Witch, and The Closet..err..Wardrobe

9 February 2006

Producers of the film faced a huge challenge in making this film. The Chronicles of Narnia series has captured the imagination of millions of readers and does not translate easily into the visual register. The Narnia books belong to a different era, when books opened the way to fantasy worlds that was unique was each reader. To put that on a screen is difficult, and risks disappointing when it cannot match the magic of the books. Unlike the Lord of the Rings books or the Harry Potter books, the Narnia series carries an innocence, a lack of the dramatic good/evil battles, and instead creates its magic worlds differently. Comparisons can be made between the epic fantasy worlds created by Rowling and Tolkien, and why not, since Narnia is their classic predecessor.

Nevertheless, there is a difference. The Harry Potter and LOTR books center on the epic battle, on the collection of different races to the cause of good or evil, and the growth of the characters, the diminutive Harry and Frodo under their watchful protectors, Dumbledore and Gandalf.

The fixations of The Chronicles of Narnia is different. Its symbolism draws directly on Christian symbolism as Edmund drinks from the goblet and eats the piece of Turkish Delight and evil enters his soul, a parallel to the blood and flesh of Christ. Then there is Aslan, with the soft wooly hair and kind eyes, stripped, flogged and finally scarified by the evil minions of the Queen/Witch, mourned by two women, only to rise again, more 'divine' through his selfless sacrifice for the sinner. Edmund is the errant 'son of Adam' who repents, and submits to the 'just' King Peter.

In Harry Potter and LOTR, a task is to be accomplished that will destroy the evil one. Interestingly, it is always an indirect act effected not by the powerful father figures, but the midgets (we do not know the end of Harry Potter, but Dumbledore is dead). What Aslan does with the witch happens outside the frame, but perhaps it is safe to suggest that he literally eats her. (He is, after all, a lion). Some of the reviews of this film suggested that it may not be suitable for the young. This has been an interesting dilemma for the recent epic fantasy films in the past few years. They are all supposed to be children's films, but have too much visual violence and adrenaline-pumping sound effects, that render them unsuitable. Narnia does not readily adapt to this, and the 'forcible' adaptation of the books to a movie style that would appeal to a more adult audience is reflected in the war scenes that carry visual and audio effects similar to those in the LOTR films.

Does this 'spoil' the book for us? That is probably debatable, since most lovers of the books will gladly accept any activity that allows them to enter the world of Narnia. The characterization of Edmund is spot on, a flawed hero, he loses the burden of 'sinner' he is meant to carry in the books, and gains Anakin Skywalker-like proportions in being the hero who submits only rebelliously, who's submission is full of tension. Both Anakin Skywalker and Edmund demonstrate a very different kind of heroism that makes them appealing: they are both on a quest for power, but always 'under' a higher authority, and interestingly, both show their willingness to 'submit' to a woman: Padme or the Witch. (And let's not forget that the original Palpatine was played by an old woman, that Palpatine inspires much horror with his seductive leering at Luke, that apprenticeship in Greek antiquity implied another kind of love, and that the Jedi order is based on a similar model).

Humorous moments in the scene occur when Edmund defies his older brother Peter and walks out, and Susan blames Peter for not 'handling' the situation well, instead of backing him up. Scenes like this suggest a breaking of a 'nuclear' order where a symmetrical masculine-feminine arrangement presides over an otherwise chaotic universe. The feminine equivalent of Aslan, who must be subdued and overcome is the Witch. Yet there is something lacking in her, which fails to make her an adequate rival. The ease with which Aslan subdues her (the only reason for the near-success of the Witch is Edmund's betrayal) towards her end suggests an imbalance in the battle between good and evil. One reason for this is the masculinsation of the Witch.

The Witch rushes around in her sleigh, petrifying people with her phallic... er, wand, that finally only Edmund is able to 'touch' without being himself petrified, and managing to break it. Only then does Aslan eat her, after she has been, in a fashion, 'castrated.'

Other interesting moments in the film are when the witch thinks Aslan is dead and rides with her army, her hair surrounding her face, almost like a mane. The dwindling numbers in Peter's army, and the grotesque infinity that seems to comprise the Witch's army, is suggestive of the Anti-Christ theme. According to this, Christ himself stood for all that was evil and perverse for the existing order, and only through its destruction does he become 'good.' That is, that a noble Christ is specific to his/her social order. Thus the film almost hints at what would have happened had Aslan really died: the Witch would have become Aslan. That, after all, is only one more way of consuming ('eating') the Witch.