Into the Wardrobe

Hi Esther (and Sven) I see what you mean. I wasn't aware of Lewis' comments on adaptation and am happy to bow to that.

However for me film is easily as capable of communicating truth as radio, print or any other medium. And I find that my imagination is just as active when I’m in the cinema, but perhaps occupied in different ways.

It’s a while since I saw X Men but I seem to remember that it explored some very important issues. If you are happy to dismiss it as a story about mutants, well and good. However you could just as easily read it as being about immigration, racisim, homophobia, genetic research and any number of other very real problems.

Maybe in Lewis's day cinema was the kind of passive, purely entertainment focused form you describe, but things have moved on. You only have to compare the Ten Commandments to The Passion of the Christ to see this. I have to admit I enjoy the former more than the later, but am not blind to its flaws. The Passion is not easy to watch, but that’s in part because it was not content to function as pure entertainment.

When it comes to adaptations it is true that most do not live up to their source material. Yet I would contend that there are many that actually improve on the original.

The Godfather is not a great novel, yet is spawned 2 (and a half) great films. Michael Moore has done important things with his movies, but I would never pick up one of his books. The Harry Potter books are painful to read, but the films have helped introduce a whole generation into the joys of reading.

And I think this is why we should be willing to allow Lewis material to be presented in new ways. It’s tempting to keep Lewis all to one’s self, but I maintain that any means of making his words heard is a worthwhile one.

I agree that film is fully capable of conveying truth and creativity. But I also think that various mediums have benefits/limitations of their own, and cannot necessarily be compared simply on the basis of mass communication. Each medium needs to be considered individually to determine whether it is a good/helpful way of communicating a particular idea/story or not.

Depending on how it is produced, I think a film of Screwtape may or may not be a valuable contribution. Some film adaptations are able to contribute to one's appreciation of a book without taking away any of its best qualities (such as the beautiful music and animation of Watership Down), while others simply become a vehicle for the director's own philosophies (such as the feminist elements which were injected into the most recent productions of Little Women and Pride and Prejudice). I'm all for films of the first type (although most seem to be somewhere in between), and hopefully Screwtape will be one of them.

I see Randal Wallace has signed on as director. I'm kind of encouraged by this.