"None of the children knew who Aslan was anymore than you do; but the moment the Beaver who spoken these words, everyone felt quite different.... either a terrifying one (dream) which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words... that you remember it all your life... wishing you could get into that dream again." (Chapter 7, A Day with the Beavers, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)
That was how I felt after watching the movie last evening with an outing with some friends over at Suntec City Mall. It left behind a 'magical' feeling that was "... too lovely to put into words".
I read the entire chronicles when I was younger and found it exciting and 'nice' on a very superficial level. But after much older now and been through a great deal to reach where I am today, the story as encountered last evening resonated much differently.
It has reached out to audiences in so many different levels that no
matter whether you are a child, young adult, middle age or a doddering geriatric, you will certainly take away something worthwhile from this movie. For myself, I can't help but see much of my faith that I believe and struggling to live out, being displayed with such subtle finesse that I admire and take my hat off to CS Lewis for his craft of story-telling, skillfully placed within the genre of children's storybooks.
It is so rich with mythic and symbolic elements that the entire story was literally soaked with the dimension which only a Christian can identify with: virtues, sacrifice, resurrection, life, death, truth, betrayal, honesty, bravery and desires, just to name a few. It helps that Lewis himself, after a period of being an agnostic, became a Christian later in his life. His vision of the Christian life, meaning and its promises can all be seen embedded lovingly in his Chronicles of Narnia. It is his way of wanting to share by inviting us, through our child within us (which never really gone away), into the very depths of His kingdom that awaits us, if we truly believe...
"Yes, of course you'll get back to Narnia again some day... It'll happen when you are not looking for it." (Chapter 17, The Hunting of the White Stag, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)
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