DAWN TREADER FLAWED BUT GLORIOUS
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.” Directed by Michael Apted, 20th Century Fox, 113 minutes. Released Dec. 10.
The atmosphere in the theater was festive and expectant, yet somehow wary. All should have been good — on a snowy December evening in London, the world premiere was coming off without a hitch. Artificial snow had been ordered in the square, but it hardly was necessary — picture-perfect flakes were drifting down on the rich and famous walking the red carpet. And the premiere had even been picked for the 2010 Royal Film Performance — the queen would be making her annual appearance at the cinema to see the newest cinematic adaptation of one of C.S. Lewis’ beloved masterpieces, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Yet the evening wasn’t all jollity and fun. A lot was riding on the newest Narnia film. While “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” was a well-deserved hit, the heavily adapted “Prince Caspian” was disappointing at the box office, and displeased millions of Lewis fans with pointless battles and an illogical romance interpolated into the story.
Andrew Adamson, director of the first two films in the franchise, had been replaced by Michael Apted, and the third film widely was seen as the key to the rest: If confidence in the franchise (and box-office returns) didn’t return, a cinematic “Last Battle” would be farther away than ever. And the newest film was screening in digital 3D — the technology gives some viewers headaches, and is significantly more expensive to shoot and screen.
The film opens with Lucy (Georgie Hensley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) staying in Cambridge with their irksome cousin (Will Poulter), “a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, [who] almost deserved it.” He ridicules anyone who would read fairy tales, preferring the company of “useful” books of facts and figures. When the children are pulled unexpectedly into a mysterious painting of a ship, he doesn’t know how to react to a world that his mind refuses to accept.
The ship in the painting turns out to be the Dawn Treader, captained by none other than their good friend Prince (now King) Caspian (Ben Barnes). He is on a quest to explore the unknown Eastern seas beyond the Lone Islands and find the seven lords that disappeared there years before. At Narrowhaven, their first port of call, the party has a run-in with slave traders, but witnesses a much greater evil — a mysterious green mist that takes captives and threatens Narnia.
Caspian, Reepicheep (voiced by Simon Pegg), and the royal children resolve to pursue this evil to its source and destroy it. They are told that the swords the seven lords carried must be laid at Aslan’s Table at the end of the world before the curse can be conquered.
The darkness they fight against will test them with the worst darkness in themselves — jealousy, pride, greed, arrogance, and worse, that threaten to tear their company apart. Lucy must face her jealousy of Susan’s envy, Edmund his fear of always standing in Peter or Caspian’s shadow, and Caspian his own bitterness. Eustace will face the greatest challenge, as his greed takes physical form, transforming him into a dragon, helpless to restore himself. Yet none will escape being changed by the hardships and glories of the East as they journey towards Aslan’s country.
The film likely will disappoint serious Lewis fans, with significant departures from the original storyline. While most of the major scenes remain, they are sometimes weakened by their rearrangement in the narrative, and many favorite quotes or details may be missing.
Yet for those wondering about the Christological and symbolic content of the original book, most of the key points made it. C.S. Lewis expert Michael Ward discussed “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” with me in an interview in his office in Oxford: “They are journeying towards the eastern end of the world, but that is really just a kind of symbol of their journey deeper with Aslan, getting to know him as the true Sun of Righteousness.” He spoke of events we should look for — the repeated enslaving and freeing of the company from slavers, from greed and pride and fear, as Aslan personifies freedom, justice, and the breaking of bonds.
Spoiler alert: Aslan’s redemptive transformation of Eustace-the-dragon is more-or-less intact, following the final battle with the Sea Serpent and vanquishing of the evil on the Dark Isle. The internal struggles the children face highlight the role of Aslan as Redeemer and Light. And the most important line of the final scene made it in the film, when Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) intones, “This was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
“Dawn Treader” is gorgeous, glorying in the interplay of light and sun and sea on this odyssey to the East, cinematically much better than the muted tones of “Prince Caspian.” I found the 3D very satisfying, richly detailed without headache-inducing eye strain, and well worth a few dollars extra on the ticket. The scenes at the end of the world in particular, the lilies in the sweet sea and Aslan’s country, are extremely satisfying to those raised on the traditional pen-and-ink illustrations in the Chronicles.
The filmmakers could have made a more faithful film, but after the debacle that was “Prince Caspian,” I am glad to see a cinematic adaptation that at least tries to keep the theme and feel of the original intact.