By Robin G. Jordan
Taking a book and turning it into a screenplay is always a challenge. A story that took place over a period of months, even years must be told in roughly two hours. Characters may be omitted or new characters added. Story elements must be rearranged or omitted. New elements may be added. To the challenge of telling the story in a short period of time in a particular media—film, add the demand for wide audience appeal and high box office receipts, and the likelihood the story told on the screen will bear any resemblance to the story told in the book is very slim. I long ago gave up expecting the telling of the story on the screen to be true to the telling of the story in the book. The scriptwriters of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader met my expectations. They took characters and elements from C. S. Lewis’ story and spun an entertaining tale from them. The tale that they told, while it drew from C. S. Lewis’ story, was their own creation.
I did, however, enjoy the movie. Even a story loosely based on C. S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was poignant for me. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was Lucy’s last adventure in Narnia. It was also 15-year-old Georgie Henley’s last portrayal of the character of Lucy Pevensie. Like Lucy she has become too old for Narnia and must come to know Aslan by a different name in this world.
As for faith elements in the movie, they were there. They were, however, much more subdued than in the book. A number of elements were missing. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a story comprised of a number of stories—the story of Prince Caspian in search of the seven Telmarine lords, the story of Reepicheep in search of Aslan’s country, and the story of Eustace’s redemption. It is also the story of Lucy and Edmund’s further preparation for life in our world.
In C. S. Lewis’ story Reepicheep’s quest is one of faith. Even when he leaves Lucy, Edmund and Eustace and sets out on his own in the coracle, it is faith that is moving him. The Reepicheep of the movie talks about earning his way into Aslan’s Country. He encounters Aslan before he entering Aslan’s Country and asks his permission to enter his country. Aslan assures him that his country was made for the brave of heart like Reepicheep. He has earned the right of entering. The movie also includes lines like, “To defeat the darkness out there, we must defeat the darkness in ourselves…,” as well as exhortations to be strong, to be brave, and to persevere.
Lucy does tell a little girl, “Have faith. Aslan will help us.” And Aslan does appear to the sailors as the albatross. The scriptwriters did retain Aslan’s words to Lucy before she leaves Narnia with their implication that Aslan in Narnia is Christ in our world.
In regard to our salvation, the movie did seem to suggest that it is in part our doing. Aslan is there to help when he is needed.
Despite the dilution of the spiritual message of the original story and the obvious departures from that story, I felt the movie was worth the price of the ticket. The animation, visual affects, digital artistry, and sound track were top rate. There was plenty of action for those who crave action. I did not regret seeing the movie, and recommend it to others.
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