With the news that the Netflix reboot of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew has finished filming, there is growing anticipation, and some trepidation, over what this new series might like look. Adaptations are a serious part of filmmaking, and many, myself included, worry over whether this new series is going to take that responsibility seriously. Normally I try to withhold judgment over a movie or series till I can see for myself whether it is good or not, but it’s hard not to be nervous when Hollywood tries to tackle a series that means the world to you.
I’m certainly no expert in filmmaking, but I do have high expectations when book-to-film adaptations are attempted. After all, it’s a tough project to take somebody else’s words and world and translate it to the screen where audiences aren’t being told all the details. I like to think that book-to-film adaptations are one of the highest honors that an author can receive. Even if the author is not alive when a film adaptation is made, their story and purpose will forever live on through two art forms: writing and film.
This, in my opinion, is what makes adaptation important. If the author’s original intent is not observed, then the filmmaking is essentially pirating that author’s work, changing it, and turning it into another story with the same title and acknowledgements slapped on for copyright purposes.
Obviously, not every film adaptation of a book has been completely faithful to the original story. Some of the best-known stories in the world have had multiple adaptations into completely different genres and storylines – think of Hamlet in films like The Lion King, or the millions of storylines following the basic plot of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale.
Yet I would consider such ancient tales such as these two examples as foundational. Their themes are universal, and can be applied into numerous adaptations and storylines, even those completely different from the original tale, and still retain the intent of the original story. However, it’s a different matter to take an original story and change the characters, setting, or meaning to fit a new narrative set by the director or the public in general.
Meaning is especially important in considering a book-to-film adaptation. In my opinion, directors who don’t feel inclined to stay true to the original purpose and meaning behind an author’s work should not be working on adaptations at all. This is a problem that I feel many studios, including Disney, have ignored in their reboots or live action adaptations. They’ve been approaching these works with the mindset that something was wrong with the original, and it’s now this movie/show’s duty to fix it.
That’s my main concern with the upcoming Narnia series, that the directors will be looking to “fix” what was never broken.
That’s what original storylines are meant for, to take a subject or concern that that director wants to address in a film and build a story around it. In terms of adaptations however, there are a few things I think every film director and screenwriter should consider, which is what I hope to see in the new Narnia series:
Consideration for the Setting
Setting in books is often one of the most crucial pieces of information that adds a great deal to the meaning and focus of the story. There are many films that have taken classic stories and reset them to a modern century setting (Romeo and Juliet 1996, or Clueless 1995). I don’t think there’s anything wrong with adapting a book to a modern setting, but it depends on what kind of book it is and what story is being told. In some cases, as long as the characters and script are portrayed in a way that stays true to the story’s meaning while being relevant to the time period, the filmmakers would have done their job. However, with some stories, such as with Narnia, a great deal relies on the time, place, and setting. The onslaught of WWII is what causes the Pevensie children to be evacuated in the first place; and the books really wouldn’t have their old charm without the backdrop of old England.
Character personalities and Portrayal
Something that is crucial to good adaptations, and that a lot of modern films are ignoring, is portraying characters as they are in the book. I think there is a great temptation among filmmakers to try to “modernize” characters, especially those from older or classic tales to make them more relevant or relatable to audiences. Sometimes this means making a character more bold or outspoken then they were in the original story; other times it means taking a heroic god-like character and knocking them down a few pegs, showing audiences that they are just as human as the rest of us. And most often, especially these days, it means taking a major villain, reinventing their backstory, and making the audience feel sorry for them. This is what fans of the Narnia series do not want to see happen to any of the major characters or villains of these classic books. We get the White Witches’ backstory in The Magician’s Nephew, and it does nothing to make us feel sorry for her. Character portrayal is something that even the original 2000’s Narnia movies struggled with at times, so it will be interesting to see if this version will stay true to the books or not.
Meaning and Intent
Every author writes a book for a reason. Sure, as writers we get random ideas in our head that we want to write a whole book about, but ultimately there has to be a reason why this is a good idea. And finally, what meaning does the book have that will make it memorable to people? It’s become increasingly clear to more people that unless books or movies have a good meaning behind them, they’re not worth consuming. You can have greatest CGI, animation, or actors and still tell a clunky story. The same is true for adaptations. As I’ve said before, if the original meaning or intent isn’t there, there’s no point in making it. C.S. Lewis didn’t write the Narnia series purely to entertain children. In those books we find nuggets of truth about human nature, destiny, the relationship between humans and the divine, and the true meaning of love and sacrifice. Lewis’ Christian beliefs were a huge influence on his writing and this series. You don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy the books or the films – Lewis intended for people to come to their own conclusions and interpretations on the stories – but that does not give filmmakers the license to change what Lewis originally set down.
All that being said, I’m curious to see what this adaptation hold in store, and whether we can applaud it as a success or label it as a “nice try.”