Prince Caspian: Review

This review contains spoilers.

I confess to preferring the recent film version of Prince Caspian to its companion piece The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I love it because, frankly, watching male testosterone self-implode on-screen is hugely entertaining not to mention charismatic.

The movie makes some large, but still consistent, changes from the book, mostly to get the Pevensies in contact with Prince Caspian sooner (in the book, they don't show up until the very, very end). Another of the changes is that the story centers around Peter rather than Lucy or Caspian. Unlike the level-headed Peter of the book, movie Peter is hot-headed and tired of being treated like a kid: he's just bursting with testosterone!

And when he shows up in Narnia, his reluctance to listen to Lucy is much less the careful deliberations of a grown man and much more the knee jerk reactions of an adolescent/adult man who thinks he is losing control of a situation: yup, Peter is THAT guy who won't stop and ask for directions. (By the way, to kill a stereotype, I never do either.)

And when he meets Caspian, he immediately takes over. The first time I saw the movie, I wasn't entirely convinced that Caspian (played by Ben Barnes with a delectable accent) would give way so easily. I mean, the guy is over 18! But I think the movie does a good job showing that Caspian has been sat on so much by his uncle—who has also sent away any of Caspian's real supporters—Caspian doesn't really know how to take charge. And I'm very grateful, by the way, that movie Caspian is over 18; I don't mind child actors, but I found the baby-faced Caspian of the BBC version to be fairly annoying.

The emotional problem of the movie is pride, specifically testosterone-laden male pride. Now, I'm no establishment feminist. I adore testosterone-laden male pride: makes for some darn fine movies. And I like Caspian because the problem of male pride is not solved by "feminizing" the hormone-rampaging males. It is solved, rather, through multiple options (as opposed to tunnel "I do know how to get there" insistence), Edmund's discernment and prompt action, and the combat between Miraz and Peter where Peter's aggression is channeled into a useful and probable resolution. Politics, as Caspian knows, is a far more effective weapon against Miraz than battle: the Narnians simply don't have the manpower.

Which brings us to Miraz's court: I love it! It is so . . . Godfatherish. And I don't especially like the Godfather movies. But I love how sneaky and conspiratorial the Telmarine court is. I love the power plays. I love the badness of Miraz, not, again, because I typically like Mafia-type movies but because his badness, in typical Lewis fashion, is so human; the actions of his subordinates are so clever and so evil in such a mundane, human way. And yes, all the stuff that's in the movie about Miraz is in the book.

My brother comments in one of his posts, "And, to be honest, I do find women to be infinitely more interesting creatures than men" in part because fiction about women focuses on "how real people--specifically women--actually relate to each other in the real world" and "revolve mainly around the evolution and devolution of friendships." I suppose I find testosterone-laden male tribulations fascinating for a similar reason: because of the birds' eye view not of evolution and devolution, necessarily, but of adaptation. If Camille Paglia is right and women are fundamentally more earthy and cyclical while men are fundamentally more idealistic and goal-completion-oriented, watching idealistic, goal-oriented men adjust to our very non-idealistic, repetitive world is, well, rather like watching wild animals in a zoo: bizarrely fascinating. If that metaphor seems offensive, try--like watching matadors buying pizza in Brooklyn.

When the adjustment is more or less successful, at least. When it isn't, it's just kind of sad, but then watching women de-evolve themselves out of relationships bores me silly. No matter the gender, I prefer construction to destruction, but that's another post!

For another take on Caspian, my brother's review can be read on his blog.

MOVIES

Bleak House, Part 1

I just finished Disc 1 (five episodes) of the 15-episode Bleak House series. This is the first time I've understood why Dickens was so popular. I am completely hooked. Who are Esther's parents? Will anyone inherit? (No, I say.) Who is going to get killed? Someone's going to get killed; I hope it's not the street sweeper. Will Richard and Ada get married? (Not a good idea, I'd tell her.) Who will end up marrying Esther? Is Guppy a bad guy or a good guy? Who on earth is Lady Deadlock's sister? Is there a sister? And who's going to get those letters????

And on and on.

I'm so obsessed, I dream about it! This is why I don't watch soap operas although, to be fair, Bleak House is way more interesting than your average soap opera. Something actually happens in every episode!

Gillian Anderson is great, by the way. For a single scene in the second episode, she suddenly adopts a strong British accent. Now, Anderson was born in England and lives there now, but after that single aberration (maybe that was the first scene filmed?), she has spoken "Scully" the majority of the time--crisp tones that are almost accent-less. I love it! It's so in-your-face refined. Which isn't to say I associate her character with Scully although I admit to a wish that David Duchovny would make a cameo appearance. Everybody else has! And can I say that Nathaniel Parker has truly impressed me as the bumbling guest; now, is he a good guy or a bad guy? I thought I knew, but I'm not sure now. Don't tell me! I actually want to figure it out all by myself.

What with all the uncertain, ambiguous, and villainous lawyers (and isn't Charles Dance magnificent?!), I feel like I'm watching The Screwtape Letters: Tulkinghorn is Screwtape. Luckily, he is one of the few obviously unpleasant people in the piece. I'm not certain about anybody else, even John Jarndyce, which makes me nervous. Speaking of John Jarndyce, there's some major manipulation going in his relationships with his wards.

Some of that manipulation involves Ricky, but to be honest, I find Ricky so annoying, I don't much care if he is being manipulated or not. Perhaps my job gives me a suffeit of 20-years-old boys who don't know what to do with their lives, but I keep going, "Oh, kick him out on his ear" whenever Ricky makes another lame excuse about his future.

Back to the lawyers: this Christmas I read a book about A Christmas Carol. The author made the argument that Dickens may have lambasted lawyers and debt collectors, but he identified with Scrooge more than with Tiny Tim et al. Dickens was constantly aware of money: when it was coming in, who owed it, who wasn't repaying it, who was forcing him to lend it. Part of him wished he wasn't so aware and like all good writers, he tried to exorcise his impulses through his writing. He failed, but, as Wimsey says in Gaudy Night, "What does it matter if it hurts if it makes a good book?"

So my appreciation for Dickens has increased. And so has my appreciation for the BBC which makes it possible for me to appreciate Dickens without actually having to read him!

TV

Would the Real Mrs. Columbo Please Stand Up?

In 1979, Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway for you Voyager fans) created the role of Mrs. Columbo on a show of the same name. The show lasted for two seasons.

Now, I admired Kate Mulgrew, and I think she makes a fine Captain Janeway, but as Mrs. Columbo . . . she just wasn't right.

Granted, Mrs. Columbo is something of a enigma. Columbo constantly makes references to his wife, but it is hard to know how many of his references are based on actual fact and how many are simply used to put his suspects at ease. Nevertheless, there are a few "real" encounters that give us an idea of Mrs. Columbo.

First, whenever Columbo calls, she is never home. Usually another member of the family answers the phone. Where is Mrs. Columbo? Out looking for flea market bargains or at a movie with one of her numerous family members. All this gives the impression that Mrs. Columbo is a bit of a go-getter, an energetic ball of fire.

This impression is furthured when Mrs. Columbo and Columbo go on a cruise. She's always off to see a show or to see sites on the mainland. The cruise episode also gives us some insight into the marriage. When Columbo gets lost on the ship (lending support to the idea that Columbo is sometimes as scattered as he appears), he calls the room. "I don't know where the hell I am," he says bemusedly. His tone is neither that of the hen-pecked husband nor the blustering husband. It is the tone of one companion to another--hey, you know what my weird life is like, help me out.

This easy-going tone gives credence to Columbo's claim that he discusses his cases with his wife, and she gives him good guidance So Mrs. Columbo is not only a go-getter but a pretty sharp cookie.

Kate Mulgrew's Mrs. Columbo is a go-getter, but she's a Captain Janeway type of go-getter: very WASPy and goal-oriented. Columbo, on the other hand, creates a picture of his wife as less goal-oriented and more a thousand-irons-in-the-fire kind of a chick. Less corporate, more bohemian. Less concentrated ambition, more holy-rolling "are we having fun yet" extrovert. She cooks, and she shops, and she makes pottery, and she likes movie stars and traveling and . . .

I personally picture her as a small (shorter than Columbo) Italian woman--kind of like Rhea Perlman.

I think Mrs. Columbo (1979) was a worthwhile concept, but it needed, well, Rhea Perlman to really pay off. If it were to be done now, I would tweak the concept a bit. Kate Mulgrew had Mrs. Columbo be a part-time working mother: a reporter with one daughter (I think the existence of other children is implied). Frankly, there have been enough shows about reporter-detectives and forensic-detectives and just plain old detectives. It's time for the revival of Miss Marple--Italian mama style!

I would portray Mrs. Columbo as a tightly wound, very funny, little Italian woman who doesn't work (which doesn't mean she's home any more than if she did). She's always hauling her kids off places or running out to shop with her numerous siblings and every time she does, she encounters a crime! Mrs. King, only less spies and more murder.

It's time for the return of the domestic female detective!

TV