Virtual Kingdoms

What does Prince Caspian, and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe have to do with the Jane Austen-esq North and South?

Well, they are all entertaining  movies based off well written books.  And I have recently watched them all.

To make a movie, or any story is a tricky thing, but to base it off another story is probably even harder. Thus it is impressive that these movies were as good or even better then their books. The movies are all slightly different from the books, unsurprisingly as they are done in different mediums. Usually these changes seem to be made for two reasons, (1) to avoid the same mistakes as the authors, and (2) to make it into a movie.  In most cases the directors made wise choices, that made the story flow better, and work well. And most important of all, I think, that these movies stay true to the spirit of the book.

Prince Caspian, was changed the most, but for the most part, I didn’t mind (it’s a weird book), but the struggle of trusting to Aslan is still there. The realistic powerstruggle between High King Peter and Prince Caspian is added, but that just enhances it, and adds another way to relate to C S Lewis’ somewhat flat characters.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, still keeps the incredible power of the book, and story. Unfortunately it adds some silly things like chain mail dresses. Perhaps it makes up for it in Edmund’s character development, not to mention the other siblings.

North and South is a Pride and Prejudice like story with a lot less of the niceties of societies and a strong subplot of the workingman versus the master in Industrial England. (This comparison with Jane Austen seems to bring either a-death-knell or a-love-at-first-sight reaction.)  The movie is incredibly faithful to the book, the most important change seemed to be from a inner turmoil over a lie to an outer awkwardness and jealousy over a misunderstood chance encounter. Both of which happen  in book and movie, but the book was more about the inner guilt.  This change of focus to the latter in a visual medium like a movie, is highly understandable.

Perhaps I have rambled too long, but if you haven’t read or watched any of these, try them out.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Books and Movies, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.