Roundtable: The Deeper Magic
Hollywood Jesus is hosting yet another of its roundtable discussions. The topic this time? The Narnia film's "Deep Magic" and the book's "Deeper Magic." Check it out and see what HJ's very diverse staff of reviewers has to say. And contribute your own thoughts! An exceprt from the roundtable's lead:
Hollywood Jesus, 13.12.05
Is the difference between Narnia's "Deep Magic" and "Deeper Magic" just too deep a concept to convey on film? Do you think that the difference managed to come across anyway?MORE HERE
And even if Disney and director Andrew Adamson "got it wrong," how much does that really matter? Is the "Christian character" of the Narnia stories the most important thing about it, or something else?
Hollywood Jesus, 13.12.05
posted by Greg Wright at 13.12.05
2 Comments:
I believe this is one of the great disappointments of the film. Aslan wins on a technicality! Now let's celebrate!
Obvsiously, this kind of sacrifice on Aslan's part is still good, but it lacks the love, the pain, and the realization that a good animal with no business dying for a human such as Edmund.
Watching the movie, I was not moved the way I was reading the book. In the book, Lewis went to great pains to bring us to that emptiness, pushing us to realize we are Edmund, and we have failed. But Lewis does not stop there, and the book is such a classic because Aslan's love is a model for us all. Ultimately, Jesus' love is that model, and Lewis captures it brilliantly.
In Adamson's version, it is more like Aslan was not a substition for sin, but rather a trickster who fooled the queen. Something tells me the queen would not have been fooled that easily. And something else tells me there was something more to Aslan's sacrifice than manipulating the 'Deep Magic'...
I had issues with the Deep Magic / Deeper Magic theme as well, as I wrote in my review of the film. In retrospect, though, I don't think that the issue will be noteworthy for children, the target audience of the books and movie. Still, it is unavoidable for us sticklers! ;)
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