I also liked the movie and thought they cast it pretty well. Yes, the white witch was great in that she didn't overplay it. She was cold and ruthless without overstatement or being hammy. I liked her style of swordsmanship too. I thought the kids were pretty good, but the one who played Lucy was exceptional, which is fortunate since I think her's is the most important child role in the film to cast just right.
I'm not sure anything can match ROTK in battle charges. It was simply awesome, particularly the first time you see it. With all due deference to realism in film, battle scenes which are hackfests just make me grimmace, but that one seemed to have passion, heart and even humor (Gimli's "that still counts as one").
The only thing which disappointed me was the performance of the boy who played Peter. I know its a challenge to find kid actors who can pull off big dramatic roles, but his performance fell a bit flat for me.
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Yr hen Gymraeg i mi, Hon ydyw iaith teimladau, Ac adlais i guriadau Fy nghalon ydyw hi --- Mynyddog
I finally picked up the soundtrack last weekend. I love it.
I have been trying to figure out what instrument they used for Tumnus' flute. Can anyone enlighten me?
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"'Mercy!" Cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?'
'The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-earth and over-heaven and of the sundering seas,' laughed Pippin. 'Of course! What less? But I am not in a hurry tonight."
There's lots of "natural" oboe (double reed) types it could be. Here's a rundown of the film score tracks (it's track 5 -- "A Narnia Lullaby") -- the instrument is identified as an armenian duduk: http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=169
I was quite impressed with the movie. The casting was excellent. The children's interactions made more believable the younger brother's treachery and his way of teasing Lucy. The movie managed to put into images things which I had difficulty with when I read the books, especially the animals and the fighting. It was a beautiful movie.
The musical score was absolutely amazing. It fit the scenes perfectly. My friends and I were discussing it afterwards and noted that while it's not music that you really walk out of the theater humming like some movies have (Star Wars comes to mind), it set the atmosphere of the various scenes beautifully.
--SPOILER WARNING--
One of the things I found most impressive was how, at the beginning of the battle, all the sound dissolved into a single drum, a single heartbeat. Then the lines met, and the music reflected the sudden chaos. Of all the musical effects, I think that was my favorite, followed closely by Tumnus's flute.
There's lots of "natural" oboe (double reed) types it could be. Here's a rundown of the film score tracks (it's track 5 -- "A Narnia Lullaby") -- the instrument is identified as an armenian duduk: http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=169
One of the things I found most impressive was how, at the beginning of the battle, all the sound dissolved into a single drum, a single heartbeat. Then the lines met, and the music reflected the sudden chaos. Of all the musical effects, I think that was my favorite, followed closely by Tumnus's flute.
It really is a wonderful score. That's an effect that's been used in various ways for battle sequences before, but it's always very moving and effective. (I think part of the intention is to show that no matter what your frame of mind is in the runup to battle, noble or otherwise, the reality is a brutal contrast when the opposing forces actually connect and the ugly carnage begins.) If you remember Faramir's charge at Osgiliath from RotK, the horse sounds are almost completely muted, and there's not much besides Pippin's song as an overtrack. And then later the charge of the Rohirrim is all music and no battle cry until the instant the two forces connect, then the music cuts out abruptly and it's all chaos and battle sound. In a reversed kind of way, I think the best use of the contrast I remember is from Kurosawa's "Ran" (and there's very similar stuff in "Kagemusha", an earlier film) -- it's in the thick of the battle, and the only sound you hear, with very graphic and violent images going on, is a single trumpet playing a beautiful, tragic unaccompanied line -- you could almost imagine it to be God weeping at the earthly folly.
Good luck with the duduk, Arien! I guess you're a woodwind player too?
Good luck with the duduk, Arien! I guess you're a woodwind player too?
Yes. I have played the flute for a long time now (though not as much lately as I should) and the piccolo for a while in school. I have tried tin whistles a little but I think I prefer lower pitched instruments.
The battle scene in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe reminded me of the battle scenes in Return of the King too. Not only because of the music but also because of the way it was choreographed. I thought Oreolis' two-handed sword attacks were a little too Legolas-like (especially with his horse ears that looked a lot like big elf ears). There was more than enough that I liked about the movie to make up for these little things though.