Tea at Trianon: Narnia (2005)

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Narnia (2005)

Last night, we watched the Narnia film again on DVD. Of course, I loved the books as a child. They prepared me to read The Lord Of The Rings, even though the stories really cannot and should not be compared, they are so different. The Narnia film is incredibly uplifting. It is rich with meaning on several levels, the main point being that it is not enough to prove one's love just by being nice - niceness won't save anyone of itself, but rather one must be willing to sacrifice in order to save the beloved. The film creates a feeling of having glimpsed a great and imminent victory. Like true art, it speaks to the viewer on a deeply personal level. It also seems to address so many things that are going on in the world. (Narnia under the White Witch is a land where it is always winter but never Christmas. Christmas is banned. Not only Christmas but many outward expressions of faith are outlawed in places around the world.) It is amazing how some movies, like The Passion and the LOTR all seem to materialize at crucial moments in history; yet even ten years ago "Narnia" could not have been made; only now is the technology just right. Yes, it is the struggle of good and evil retold, but the battle is for nothing without Aslan's immolation. Share