SHADOWLANDS
A film review by Alex Lopez-Ortiz
Copyright 1994 Alex Lopez-Ortiz
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger, Edward Hardwicke, John Wood, Michael Denison, Joseph Mazzello Screenplay: William Nicholson Director: Richard Attenborough
Some people might construe SHADOWLANDS to be a movie about C. S. Lewis, the Christian writer. Nothing further from the truth. SHADOWLANDS is the portrayal of an intense romance between a troubled man (C. S. Lewis, British writer and philosopher) and a caring woman (Joy Davidman Gresham, American poet).
Why then, the reader may ask, use historical names and places if the film is not to dwell on the historic figures?
Because C. S. Lewis, being the powerful writer that he was, left a written trail of his feelings and tribulations during the seven year period for which he knew Joy.
In other words, the movie is a real story and it feels very much so. That is the strength of the film. One feels moved by both the joy and the pain endured by Jack (as C. S. Lewis was known to his family and friends) and Joy. There is genuine tragedy and happiness in this film.
The script, superbly recreates and quotes C.S. Lewis, and it is through beautiful dialogue and prose that we learn of the feelings between the two of them. Brief references to Lewis's work and credo let the viewer share on C.S. Lewis's perspective on the events at hand.
Debra Winger and Anthony Hopkins perform flawlessly, and the rest of the cast, with their sober performances let "Jack" and "Joy" shine in the screen as they should.
Photography, while unobtrusive, is no less refined than the rest of the movie. Attenborough (and his director of photography) brings about a sequence of gray/yellowish tones that accurately portray the landscape and moods of Old Blighty and especially the post-war period.
SHADOWLANDS is, in a nutshell, an experience not to be forgotten.
I could say more, but I would only be repeating commendations already made in this newsgroup by Berardinelli (SHADOWLANDS.2331) and Renshaw (SHADOWLANDS.2332).
Rating: 9.1 out of 10
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