“A GREAT COMPANION PIECE”
Featuring: Dr. Michael Ward, James Cosmo (Narrator)
Produced and Directed by: Norman Stone
Genre: Documentary,
Feature running time: 59 min
Bonus running time: 45 min
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
By John Delia
Making a case for a third and secret level within the” Narnia” Books by C.S. Lewis, Dr. Michael Ward presents his theory in The Narnia Code and I found it very interesting. It’s a new way to look at the “Narnia Chronicles” that were written over a half a century ago and a reason to watch the films all over again. The DVD has some very cool bonus features that will enlighten you as well.
The documentary takes you into C.S. Lewis’s past from childhood to scholar then writer. From there we are presented Ward’s theory on a third level involving the “Seven Planets†and how they relate to the Narnia Chronicles. He states a case and presents hidden secret answers to a lot of questions by scholars of Lewis that have been lingering over the years since Lewis’s first publishing. What makes it more intriguing, comes from the comparison with each of the stories and a heavenly body.
Telling you more than this would give away too much of the documentary and disclose facts that should be heard right from Ward himself. I liked the way Producer Director Norman Stone gives a lot of C.S. Lewis’s past including his early life that was changed at the age of nine when his mother died. Stone eases out the facts and makes sense of them for viewers who never knew much about the author.
The DVD has some fine bonus features including ‘Three Friends’ with interview of C.S. Lewis’s personal friends, ‘Hearth and Home’ showing the locations in the Lewis stories, ‘Heart of the Code’ where Ward makes a direct statement on his theory.
FINAL ANALYIS: The DVD makes a great companion piece to the Narnia Chronicles both on film and books. (4 of 5)