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Posted by Colin Harvey Jul 17, 2008 |
When I was nine or ten, I read the Chronicles of Narnia. Correction: I devoured them. I loved them all, although The Silver Chair and The Last Battle seemed rather sad to me. My favourite was always Prince Caspian. There was something about the return of the children after only a year in our world to find that over a millenium has passed in Narnia that blew my mind completely. Maybe too, I could identify with the young prince, fleeing for his life. And those glorious black-and-white interior illustrations.
Even when I re-read it as an adult, Prince Caspian was one of the books that I really enjoyed.
So I went to see the film with mixed feelings. On the one hand, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was both faithful to the book, and a film that I enjoyed. But TLTW&TW was only a moderate favourite, so there wasn't the same emotional investment.
Going to see the film version of a favourite book is always something of a lottery. Will they be faithful to the storyline? Will the budgetary and intellectual limitations of the film-makers allow them to match the power of my imagination?
Actually, the first part was astonishingly faithful; the first real diversion from the book wasn't until Caspian met the children, and that actually helped the story. Then the film veered right away, with a whole extra pre-battle battle, a sort of aperatif conflict thrown in, but again, by upping the ante and really emphasizing Miraz's villainy, it actually worked.
For all that it's a favourite book, for once I wasn't disappointed. It'll be interesting to re-read it now in light of having seen the film.