Year 2!
Daisypath Ticker

Thursday, May 26, 2005
El Leon, la Bruja y el Ropero
Rony is leaving next Tuesday, Bo lost, and I am having a PR crisis at work. I gotta have something to feel good about! And this much-awaited film is as good as any. If not better!

And so I focus my thoughts on the coming Walt Disney-slash-Walden Media film The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, opening worldwide in December (locally in January because of that dratted film fest!).

This C.S. Lewis classic has such ties to my heart-- it being a memorable cartoon in my formative years (I remember the KLIM milk TV premiere of the cartoon that introduced 3D viewing to my little 5-year old life), and then the monumental, life-changing Trumpets musical that ushered in my theater years 8 years ago. Nothing has EVER been the same since.

Have you seen Shadowlands? It's a film starring Anthony Hopkins as Jack (Lewis' nickname), and Debra Winger as Joy Gresham, his wife and Douglas Gresham's mother. If you haven't, go see it-- in fact, try to get your hands on as many C.S. Lewis works, fiction and non-fiction, before the movie comes around. Your appreciation level is guaranteed to rise a hundred-fold! Take special note of Surprised by Joy, Jack's autobigraphical account of his early years and of the gradual end of his atheism. For those who may not know it, C.S. Lewis is probably the world's most widely read and respected Christian apologist. Pick up a copy of The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters, too, if you have the time.

As a matter of special note, Lewis also happened to be J.R.R. Tolkien's barkada. During his life, he established and maintained many close friendships. As reported in the C.S. Lewis Institute archives, one group, "The Inklings," met in Lewis' rooms on Thursday nights during the years 1933-50, and then the meeting place moved to the "Eagle and the Child" pub until Lewis died in 1963. Regular participants were C.S. Lewis' brother, Warren, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dr. R.E. Harvard, and Charles Williams. Other attendees included Nevill Coghill, Hugo Dyson, Owen Barfield, and Adam Fox. The focus of each meeting was a reading from one of the group's works in progress.

Tolkien would read a draft of The Lord of the Rings, Lewis a draft of The Great Divorce or Warren Lewis' work on Louis XIV and so on. None of the group's members were shy to criticize, and lively discussions followed, always punctuated with much laughter.

C.S. Lewis' marriage to Joy Davidman (Gresham) has been powerfully portrayed in the B.B.C. and Hollywood versions of Shadowlands. The latter version starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger contains a number of inaccuracies, but Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis' stepson, described it as "emotionally true." When Jack and Joy married, she had cancer, and a long life was not expected. However, when a remarkable remission occurred, they experienced two years of great happiness before the cancer returned and Joy died in 1960. As Joy herself bravely says, 'We can't have the happiness of tomorrow without the pain of today. That's the deal.'

The Lion, the Witch & The Wardrobe (LWW) is the second of seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia. The first one, The Magician's Nephew, tells the story of how Narnia was created. An imaginative account of Genesis, if you will. In LWW, four children from our world escape the horrors of bomb-raided London during WWII and find themselves entering a magical, timeless world beyond the doors of an attic wardrobe. An evil White Witch named Jadis has taken over Narnia, bringing on a perpetual winter to the once green and blooming land. Their only hope is the return of the great Lion, Aslan-- ruler of Cair Paravel and the One True King of Narnia!

Exciting, isn't it? And to think Trumpets managed to bring it all to life live, onstage all those years ago. No small feat, and a wondrous journey for everyone involved. Gresham himself said so. Another victory for Pinoys, even if the rest of the world never hears of it. The last time I spoke (alright, emailed) Douglas was a few months ago. He apologized for not being able to email as lengthily these days for obvious reasons. He happens to be working as creative consultant on the film, with approval authority on script, look, merchandising, and other related matters.

Once a king and queen of Narnia, always a king and queen of Narnia! And so it goes. I particularly like the Spanish equivalent of the title. Especially the bruja bit. Haha.

So, from now on until forever. . .don't let those closed doors fool you. You never know what wondrous lands lie beyond. And keep your eyes peeled for flickering lampposts in the middle of nowhere. Let them be your guide. . .
 
posted by The White Rabbit at 12:43 PM | Permalink |


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