THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE [9+]
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
Two decades after the Polish premiere, we are once again opening the doors of the old wardrobe. Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter Pevensie are evacuated from bomb-ravaged London to the English countryside. In Professor Kirke’s vast house, the youngest of the siblings discovers a doorway into Narnia – a land of fauns, centaurs and talking animals trapped in an endless winter.
The land is ruled by the fearsome Jadis - the White Witch, but the return of Aslan the Lion, Narnia’s rightful ruler, brings hope that her reign can finally be broken.
The story's origins are rooted in Britain’s wartime experiences. During the Second World War, thousands of children were evacuated from areas at risk of bombing, and C.S. Lewis himself took in young Londoners forced to leave the city at his home near Oxford. It is from this real-life context that one of Britain’s most famous fantasy tales emerged. Lewis – an Oxford medievalist, a friend of J.R.R. Tolkien and a member of the Inklings literary circle – created a world in which a great adventure begins with the most ordinary of things: an old house, a game of hide-and-seek, furs in a wardrobe and a lantern in the middle of a snow-covered forest.
Andrew Adamson preserves that child’s-eye sense of discovery. It is most vividly embodied by Georgie Henley’s Lucy – open-hearted, inquisitive and enchanted by everything she finds on the other side. Her warmth is counterbalanced by Tilda Swinton’s icy White Witch, one of the film’s most memorable performances. Yet Narnia is more than a fairy-tale battle between good and evil. Edmund’s story is one of jealousy, betrayal, the consequences of a mistake, forgiveness and second chances. At the same time, all four siblings must gradually grow a sense of responsibility for others.
The film impressed audiences with the scale and tangibility of its fairy-tale world right from its release. It received three Oscar nominations for make-up, visual effects and sound, taking home the award for make-up. Part of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA was also filmed in Poland – scenes were shot, amongst other locations, at Lake Siemianowskie and in the Dunajec Valley.
And with the old wardrobe beginning to creak open once more, inviting audiences towards new screen interpretations, there could hardly be a better moment to remember the magic that lay behind its doors more than twenty years ago – and why stepping through them left such a lasting impression.
Text: Maria Nowicka
.png)
.png)
