Showing posts with label Narnia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Narnia. Show all posts

Sunday, March 26, 2023

"Further Up and Further In!"

The Last Battle is the final book in CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. As I mentioned here, it involves the end of the Narnia that everyone has known, as they get to know the new and grander Narnia. Jill and Eustace were in Aslan's Country, as it is also called, in The Silver Chair (the penultimate book in chronological order), and at that time, Aslan had told them next time they came it would be to stay.

In The Last Battle, the Friends of Narnia have watched everything go down (quite literally) in the old Narnia through a door, and at Aslan's command, Peter locked it. After that, Aslan told them to "Come further up! Come further in!" They all began running faster than they knew they could.

This painting is inspired by their joyous run (and swim) through the new Narnia, as they came to Caldron Pool, jumped in, and much to everyone's surprise, found themselves swimming up the waterfall!

"Further Up and Further In!"
Steven Sauke
Acrylic on canvas
2012

If one could run without getting tired, I don't think one would often want to do anything else. But there might be special reasons for stopping, and it was a special reason which made Eustace presently shout:
"I say! Steady! Look what we're coming to!"

And well he might. For now they saw before them Caldron Pool and beyond the Pool the high unclimbable cliffs and, pouring down the cliffs, thousands of tons of water every second, flashing like diamonds in some places and dark, glassy green in others, the Great Waterfall; and already the thunder of it was in their ears.

"Don't stop! Further up and further in," called Farsight, tilting his flight a little upward.

"It's all very well for him," said Eustace, but Jewel also cried out:

"Don't stop. Further up and further in! Take it in your stride."

His voice could only just be heard above the roar of the water but next moment everyone saw that he had plunged into the Pool. And helter-skelter behind him, with splash after splash, all the others did the same. The water was not bitingly cold as all of them (and especially Puzzle) expected, but of a delicious foamy coolness. They all found they were swimming straight for the Waterfall itself.

"This is absolutely crazy," said Eustace to Edmund.

"I know. And yet --" said Edmund.

"Isn't it wonderful?" said Lucy. "Have you noticed one can't feel afraid, even if one wants to? Try it."

"By Jove, neither one can," said Eustace after he had tried.

Jewel reached the foot of the waterfall first, but Tirian was only just behind him. Jill was last, so she could see the whole thing better than the others. She saw something white moving steadily up the face of the Waterfall. That white thing was the Unicorn. You couldn't tell whether he was swimming or climbing, but he moved on, higher and higher. The point of his horn divided the water just above his head, and it cascaded out in two rainbow-colored streams all round his shoulders. Just behind him came King Tirian. He moved his legs and arms as if he were swimming, but he moved straight upward: as if one could swim up the wall of a house.

What looked funniest was the Dogs. During the gallop they had not been at all out of breath, but now, as they swarmed and wriggled upwards, there was plenty of spluttering and sneezing among them; that was because they would keep on barking, and every time they barked they got their mouths and noses full of water. But before Jill had time to notice all these things fully, she was going up the Waterfall herself. It was the sort of thing that would have been quite impossible in our world. Even if you hadn't drowned, you would have been smashed to pieces by the terrible weight of water against the countless jags of rock. But in that world you could do it. You went on, up and up, with all kinds of reflected lights flashing at you from the water and all manner of colored stones flashing through it, till it seemed as if you were climbing up light itself--and always higher and higher till the sense of height would have terrified you if you could be terrified, but later it was only gloriously exciting. And then at last one came to the lovely, smooth green curve in which the water poured over the top and found that one was on the level river above the Waterfall. The current was racing away behind you, but you were such a wonderful swimmer that you could make headway against it. Soon they were all on the bank, dripping but happy.

I based the waterfall on a picture I took of Snoqualmie Falls:


I also had points of reference for Jewel the Unicorn (in the water at the top), Farsight the Eagle (in the sky) and Puzzle the Donkey (in the water in the pool at the bottom). I used a sponge to paint the spray. I thought it was a interesting that I was using something inspired by a sea creature to paint water. This painting was also larger than the others, as it was my final painting in that class in 2012. In the painting, King Tirian is at the top with Jewel and Farsight. From top to bottom on the waterfall are King Peter, Emeth Tarkaan, King Edmund, Digory Kirke (left, wearing red), Polly Plummer (right, wearing green), and talking Dogs. In the pool are (left to right) a talking Dog, Poggin the Dwarf, another talking Dog, Eustace Scrubb, Queen Lucy and Puzzle, and Jill Pole in the back watching the whole thing as she swims. (I don't think Lewis specifies what kind of Eagle Farsight is, but I have a feeling he was probably a Brown Eagle. I thought a Bald Eagle would be a bit more majestic, and it would be easier for the head and tail to be noticeable.) 


Friday, December 10, 2010

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

From the moment the first scene started, I was in awe. The movie drew me in like few movies have, and I was rather surprised when I realized we were already getting close to the end. I did not realize that much time had passed since it began. The mark of a truly great movie.

Back up a bit.

In the past few months, I have gone through a range of emotions anticipating The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I watched excitedly as NarniaWeb.com and other sites posted pictures from the filming, and I couldn't get enough of it. However, then the ads started coming out, prominently featuring the White Witch, Peter and Susan. They are hardly mentioned in the book, so why would they be major characters in the movie? I got further worried when I started to hear about a "green mist" and a quest to find lost swords, that is nowhere to be found in the book. It concerned me that Ramandu's daughter introduced herself in the trailer as their "guide," which is not her role in the book. When it comes to adapting books to movies, I am a bit of a purist, and it seriously bothers me when studios make major changes or cuts. (Don't get me started on the butchered adaptations of Eragon and the old animated Lord of the Rings.) I was also concerned about the precedent that Disney/Walden set with making major changes to Prince Caspian that were truly painful to watch (and were very likely the reason it didn't do as well in the box office). For a long time now, I have wanted to see all seven Chronicles of Narnia adapted for the big screen, and the last thing I want is for the franchise to end early because it is not adapted well.

I am happy to report that, though they did make changes to the plot, they made it work well, and I am OK with them. I don't want to spoil too much, but they did indeed add a green mist and a quest to find the swords of the seven lost lords. Both of these add a common thread throughout the episodic nature of the story. The order of the islands is shuffled from the book, and they combine two islands into one. The changes are very much in line with Lewis' views and the spirit of the story. As for the concerns with Peter, Susan and the White Witch, they make it work. Peter and Susan do not go to Narnia, as the marketing made it appear, and you only see them very briefly (Susan more than Peter). The White Witch appears briefly as a sort of memory, only to Edmund.

Each character must learn to fight their temptations. Whereas the battles in the first two movies were with swords, the ones in this movie were more internal battles with each person's inner demons. Lucy does battle with her feeling of inferiority to her older siblings, especially Susan. Edmund battles a similar inferiority complex, in which he tries to enlist in the British army at the beginning, and later wants to take some of Caspian's authority (but not in an annoying way like Peter in Prince Caspian). Eustace, on the other hand, must learn to battle his superiority complex. Will Poulter does an amazing job of portraying an arrogant brat, who finds out that he has a lot to learn from the most unlikely of characters: a mouse.

That is not to say there are no sword battles. There is a brief battle in the Lone Islands, and the battle with the Sea Serpent is quite spectacular, much more dramatic than in the book.

For me, the brilliance of this movie shines through in several ways...

The effects. The mist is visually amazing. The White Witch, Caspian's father and a couple other characters appear in a misty form, embodying the dreams of various characters. Dragon-Eustace and Reepicheep were amazing, and I especially enjoyed the expressions on both of them. The credits alone are worth the price of admission (especially in 3D).

The lessons. They kept the lessons C.S. Lewis put in his book. (One of the disappointments for me in Prince Caspian was how many lessons they left out.) They expanded on the theme of resisting temptation, as well as covering restoration brilliantly. They toned down Eustace's undragoning a bit, but they were very clear that only Aslan could undragon him. Aslan's charge to the children to get to know him in our world with his other name was there, verbatim from the book.

The acting. Everyone nailed their part.

There were some possible references to other movies. I especially noticed a line that seemed to be straight out of Star Wars, and an element that very much reminded me of a scene in Harry Potter (although it could also have been inspired by a scene in The Silver Chair). I enjoyed the subtle (and not-so-subtle) foreshadowing to The Silver Chair, which were added.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a solid 99. I had to deduct a point because of the plot changes. :-)

(Note: I'm pretty sure those are stars in the picture, not snowflakes. Stars are much more important to the story than snow, which only appears once and very briefly.)