Tuesday 17 January 2006

The Lion, the Pitch and the Auction

Back on deck after a season of feasting. Saw the first Narnia movie with a large contingent of 4-10 year olds. They had their usual reaction—"It was good"—which makes me wonder what it will take to arouse the senses of their generation. I thought it was better than good, with an appropriate focus on the spiritual awakening of the children, as they discover that they are both immortal diamond and quintessence of dust, kings and queens precariously. It was always going to be hard to get Aslan right, so I'm glad they went with the 'Aslan is a great lion' rather than anything more laboured. I liked the treatment of the sacrifice, too—a good balance of story and symbol.


I've escaped a lot of the hype, but I still enjoyed the C.S. Lewis auction hosted by the Wittenberg Door.

What did you think of the film?

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2 comments:

Rory Shiner said...

Yeah, I loved it. And I also mourn when I hear children say it was 'good' as opposed to 'brilliant'.

As with the book, I think the atonement is well done in its affect (abiet curious in its theology).
Seeing the film, however, I was reminded that the strongest point of the book/film (theologically) is its anthropology. The regal view of humanity, the banality of sin (all for Turkish Delight!), the life-restoring ministry of Aslan. It demonstrates a great insight into Pauline theology: sin has made humans both perpetrators and victims, debased but not entirely robbed of their glory.

Greg Clarke said...

Hi Rory. I've posted an article by Ivan Head on the CASE site, where he explores the meaning of the dying fly in the first wardrobe scene. What do you think?