Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus

Another thing I did on my holidays was see the latest incarnation of Narnia, thanks to Disney.

The painting above represents a child-like vision of Lucy meeting Mr. Tumnus at the start of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - which should, if Wittgenstein (which one you might ask?) was right about how language represents the world, be titled The Wardrobe, The Witch and The Lion (but nevermind).

The best part of this new film, which is so well-made you couldn't break it with a dozen V8 rockets, and at times has a real Merchant-Ivory worthiness, is when Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus, in fact. This is so perfectly rendered - just like the drawings in the old Puffin versions - I cried.

Sadly (in a different way) the later parts of the film rather gloss over Aslan's sacrifice, and the final battle (until Sequel 7 anyway) seemed rushed and under-inventive, given the pressure of Jackson.

Still, so long as there are lamposts in winter, there will be a Tumnus. And that's a good thing.

Comments

Jonathan Wonham said…

Couldn't agree more. I watched it as well and my childhood came flooding back. I cried, well, not exactly from start to finish, but enough that it became thoroughly embarassing...

Wed Jan 04, 02:21:00 am 2006

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