NarniaWeb recently had the opportunity to interview Brian Sibley who is responsible for the dramatization of the BBC Audio Book versions of the Chronicles of Narnia. We asked Brian some questions about the upcoming film and we trust you’ll enjoy his answers and insight.
Q: So you’ve seen the new Narnia film – just ignore the millions of Narnia fans groaning with jealousy right now – can you give us your first reaction?
A: My apologies to those jealous masses who can scarcely contain their excited anticipation for the film! If it’s any consolation, I didn’t see the FIRST preview screening! 🙂
My reaction? I will admit to having been very apprehensive – simply because I so much WANTED it to be good and, happily, I was not disappointed! What I most appreciated was that Narnia felt “real”: as someone who, having read TLTW&TW for the first time, tried to get into Narnia via a big double-fronted wardrobe in my parents’ bedroom, I have never NOT believed – in some sense or other – that Narnia exists, so it was very important that the film felt as if it had been filmed IN Narnia… And, for me at least, it does.
As someone who grew up thinking of Narnia as depicted by Pauline Baynes, there were one or two visual moments when the on-screen images weren’t EXACTLY the way I had envisaged them from Miss Baynes’ illustrations. But the overwhelming feeling is one of having been true to the vision and spirit of Lewis’ writing.
The film is compelling cinema, exquisitely photographed and dramatically directed and edited.
Q: As a long-time Narnia fan, how well did you feel that the production did in terms of keeping true to the story? Did you like the changes that were made?
A: The fact that Lewis’ book is relatively “short” when compared with Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” or Rowling’s “Potter” books meant that it wasn’t necessary to cut or condense the story to fit within the film’s two-hours-plus running time. In fact, the filmmakers had the luxury of being able to ADD material to strengthen character development and inject a little extra “action excitement!”
These additions were I thought justified and helped create a suspenseful scenario. The promotion of the Fox from a minor character to an important cameo was used to intensify the threat of Maugrim’s “wolf police patrol” and the children’s perilous crossing of the frozen river (as the thaw sets in) added an exciting episode that also highlighted aspects of the children’s characters and interrelationships.
Without giving anything away, the motivation for Lucy’s first foray into the wardrobe and the circumstances which now prompt all four children to climb inside, seem to me to work admirably well and the moment when they tumble out into the snow-covered land of Narnia is full of pure wide-eyed wonderment.