Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Inspring Impressionism and Prince Caspian


















On Friday, we took Luke to the Inspiring Impressionism exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. I'd been looking forward to this special exhibit for a while and our friends, Jennifer and Donny generously offered us their extra tickets. I hadn't been in the new wing of the Denver Art Museum yet either. If you haven't seen it, it's a strange-looking building that for some reason reminds me of a futuristic icicle lying on its side. It's a jarring building that demands to be noticed. Anyway, the exhibit was beautiful and I bought a couple of prints with the hopes that I will actually frame them at some point. I do have a tendency to buy prints from art exhibits with the intention of decorating my house with all the beautiful art I've seen, but most of the time the prints stay rolled up unseen. I've always loved the paintings above and I got to see them in person! I bought the print of the painting on the left by Mary Cassatt.
On Saturday, we took the boys to see Prince Caspian which we had been eagerly looking forward to for over a year. (WARNING: Spoilers ahead) Luke really enjoyed it despite the differences from the book. I, on the other hand had a tough time with it. I understand that the film has to take some liberties, but I was annoyed. I read the book to Luke when he was about six so it's been a couple of years since I've read it, but we did listen to the Focus on the Family Audio Theatre version of Prince Caspian since. I guess it comes down to this for me. I'm battle-weary. After The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the first Narnia movie, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, I'm tired of all the battle sequences. Of course, this is exactly what Luke enjoys, but it's starting to feel like I've seen it all before. They all look the same to the point that I am starting to say, "that must be leftover orc footage." Now, that's my own issue and of course the film makers want to appeal to the Lord of the Rings fans. I know that the story of Prince Caspian is supposed to be one big battle between old Narnia and the Telmarines. I know that. Besides my own issue with unending sword fights growing tiresome, it also feels a little empty since Aslan is given very little to do in this film. Aslan, as the foundation of Narnia is almost cast out to the sidelines where he has become remote and somewhat powerless. Also, Peter is angry. This, I found almost too hard to take. The tension between Prince Caspian and Peter I know gives dramatic effect, but I wanted Peter to be more noble. I mean, he is the High King! It's obvious that Peter wants to make it clear that he is the High King and well, he is, but he should act like it and he has been called back to Narnia to help Prince Caspian. He seems not to know that his time as King is in the past and it's time for Prince Caspian's reign. Then, there's a hint of flirtation between Susan and Caspian. Okay, I can deal with this until the end where Susan kisses Prince Caspian right before she leaves Narnia for the last time. What????? Well, overall, the story is there, but it feels a little bare without the over-arching presence of Aslan. I definitely need to re-read the book and I still look forward to the adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader due out in 2010. I'm an optimist.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was disappointed when I heard about the battle scenes too. It was supposed to be a big treat for my 7yo, but I don't think she's up for that.