Narnia True to the Book, Says Hollywood Christian Exec
by Mary Rettig
November 28, 2005
(AgapePress) - - An official with an organization that trains Christians for Hollywood says parents need to take their children to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when it is released in early December. The widely acclaimed epic, based on C.S. Lewis' beloved literary classic series The Chronicles of Narnia, opens in theaters on Friday, December 9. The Disney/Walden Media movie, nearly 13 years in the making and rated PG (for battle sequences and "frightening moments," says MPAA), features computer-generated animation and special effects as its transports the audience to the imaginary land of Narnia.
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Barbara Nicolosi is executive director of the group Act One and editor of "Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture." Nicolosi had a preview viewing of Narnia last month -- and she says Christian parents can exhale and know that the movie is true to the book.
"[F]rom a believer's standpoint, the themes in the book are absolutely there," she says. The Act One official asserts that producer/director Peter Jackson "worked very hard to kind of avoid the Christian themes" in his The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's books. "[But] this is not the case in the Narnia movie," Nicolosi says. "They really respected the allegory, and they respected the themes that Lewis was working with."
She testifies that, as a believer, she was tremendously moved by the film -- and especially by the character of Aslan the Lion.
"Especially when we were watching Edmund talk to Aslan; they don't really tell you what's being said, but you kind of see it," she says. "If you know the story, Edmund is kind of screwed up and then he has this little meeting with Aslan. And I was just crying [as I was] watching; it was just beautifully done."
Nicolosi says the movie is a very lyrical and poetic way to tell the story of Jesus, but that the Christian allegory may be lost on those who do not know Christ. Consequently she says believers should be prepared for the movie to be "pure foolishness" to critics at Variety and the New York Times.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
