Narnia A Magnificent Jollification

Narnia: A Magnificent Jollification
Remember the first time you saw a movie that was so stirring, so beautiful that you wanted to see it again? Right after the movie ended?
Remember films that impacted you physically they were so enjoyable?
I remember watching Star Wars for the first time and noticing after the film that I had grooves in my hands from flying Luke's X-Wing for him.I remember when Bambi's mother died and the Wicked Queen in Snow White transformed before my eyes.My job has me use film in the classroom. Some films are smart. Other films entertain. A few do both well reaching a wide audience. It's A Wonderful Life. Fantasia.How rare it is when something entertaining is also profound!And now, I have returned from the first night of a new holiday classic Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to report a miracle. They got this film right. If you loved the book, and you understand a movie is not a book, then you will love the film. It has the essential message exactly as it should.If you don't know the book, don't worry. The film stands on its own. Narnia is no fan boy film unwatchable by any but the faithful. If you can understand a fairy tale, then you will understand this movie. And yet there is so much visually and intellectually beyond the simple story that you will be able to watch this movie many times. I went with an eight year old who watched the whole thing without flinching. (She has still not seen Lord of the Rings or Star Wars.) She loved it. My fifteen year old son loved it. My thirteen year daughter loved it. My wife, no fan of fantasy movies, loved it. And toughest of all my eleven year old son thought it cool. What other movie can do that?Forget ideological whining by reviewers who confuse their hatred of traditional Western values with thought.If you think the wolves in the wood should never be fought, then you will hate this film. If you think evil does not exist, you will be uncomfortable. If you believe forgiveness is cheap and bad behavior has no cost, then this film will make you furious. But if you are like most of us, then this film will make you shout for joy.Tonight for the first time in a long time I watched a film that made my heart ache with the beauty of the scenes, made me cry, stirred my passions, and made me think. (All those neo-Platonisms! Surrounded as I was by Torrey students all of whom have read the Timaeus, we were the only audience in the world to burst into applause when Aslan asked, "Where is the fourth?")The child actors are a miracle . . . especially Lucy who is actually a child . . . the first we have seen in a Disney film in forever. The White Witch is fierce some and has the best fighting moves seen Matrix. My son says that centaurs are awesome warriors . . . and there is Aslan now far and away the lion king.Some films soar (think of the Rings Trilogy). Other films are jolly (like a holiday with Mary). Narnia does both. It is a magnificent jollification and what more can one ask for on this Holy Day God's greatest holiday.Who do we thank for this film? How can we make sure Disney and Walden make more? See this film. See it again. Write letters. Read the book. Rejoice that the DVD will be out by next Christmas!At the end of the film I kept hearing people gloating that they could spend their next seven holidays watching the sequels.Just do it Disney. Now while the children are the right ages.Merry Christmas to the film makers. You have given us a present to last our life times.