Shadowland

[Knight Aaron of Narnia]

Has anyone seen this movie?
It is about C.S. Lewis falling in love with Poemist Joy Gresham.
A brief history of Joy Gresham:
Joy Davidman (born Helen Joy Davidman on April 18, 1915, died July 13, 1960) was a Jewish writer, a radical communist and an atheist until her conversion to Christianity in the late 1940s. Her first husband was the writer William Lindsay Gresham. They had two children together: David Gresham and Douglas Gresham. Her second marriage was to the writer and Oxford don, C.S. Lewis.

She moved from her native New York to England in 1953, where she met and married Lewis, having been inspired by his books on Christianity. Davidman was brought to examine and subsequently convert to the Christian faith, largely through Lewis' writings. When she moved to the UK, he married her so that she would not have to return to America. In time, and especially after she fell ill with cancer, he realized how much he loved her and proposed to marry her properly, "before God".

She recovered briefly, but eventually succumbed to cancer at the age of 45 on July 13, 1960.

It also had Douglas Gresham his step-son in it.
It is a very interesting movie,
And I recommend it to C.S. Lewis fans!
The movie stars Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis and Debra Winger as Joy Gresham.
The move was loosely based on Douglas Gresham's book Lenten Lands.
Also a Epitaph byt C.S. Lewis:
Here the whole world (stars, water, air,
And field, and forest, as they were
Reflected in a single mind)
Like cast off clothes was left behind
In ashes, yet with hopes that she,
Re-born from holy poverty,
In lenten lands, hereafter may
Resume them on her Easter Day.

[LifeMaiden]

I haven't seen it yet, but I love Sir Anthony Hopkins, and would love to see him as CS Lewis! I have to check out my local Blockbuster for this, or better yet, just buy it.

[Son of Adam]

I have seen it both on the big screen and on TV. It is a very moving portrayal of the love between C.S. Lewis and his wife, Joy Gresham. It was really the story of her life and how Mr. Lewis and she dealt with all the ups and downs of her bout with cancer that she eventually lost. I really enjoyed the film.

[Narborg]

Yeah, Ive got it. Its a really movie movie, and it gives an intersting insight into his life.

[KathrynJanewayChakotay]

I want to see shadowlands but i cannot seem to find it in any store and I really don't want to rent it I just want to buy it its on my chirstimas and birthday list hopefully I will get to see it soon I heard it was really good movie

[Elven Prince]

I saw this movie! I got it from the library. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. It was really touching and sad for me. Good movie to see sometime.

[<Turkish Delight>]

Yes, I have seen Shadowland. It is a VERY good movie! I found out SOOOO many new things about the wonderful man, C.S. Lewis and I`m very glad I watched it.
Anthony Hopkins does a marvelous job as C.S. Lewis, but of course Anthony is amazing in pretty much every movie he`s in. ;)
But um... anyways...I HIGHLY recomend this movie to all you Lewis fans! :D

[Copperfox]

What you NEED to be seeing is the ORIGINAL "Shadowlands," a BBC television film that starred Joss Ackland as Mr. Lewis and Claire Bloom as Joy. For one thing, this earlier version accurately depicted Joy as having TWO sons--whereas, in the Hopkins version, DAVID Gresham drops into a black hole. Douglas Gresham is very forgiving of the later film's faults--I suppose, just for the sake of his stepfather getting more attention on anything like favorable terms; but there are much more serious flaws in the depiction of Mr. Lewis himself.

Above all, there's the issue of what Mr. Lewis MEANT by the expression "Shadowlands." In Hopkins' voice-over at the end of the theatrical-release movie, "Shadowlands" is made out to be referring only to the uncertainty of the future within this life, not even taking into consideration the question of eternal destiny. This is almost EXACTLY 180 DEGREES OPPOSITE to what Mr. Lewis ACTUALLY meant by the expression. As you will see from Aslan's Welcome-to-Heaven speech at the end of "The Last Battle," Mr. Lewis had an ongoing theme of this world being only a shadow compared to the everlasting reality of eternal life with God. The tampering done by the newer script ruins that message. But by contrast, in the ORIGINAL film (as well as the live-stage adaptation), the ending very clearly reaffirms that Mr. Lewis' faith in Jesus DID survive the loss of his wife. He took COMFORT in knowing that this world was a shadow, because he looked forward to meeting Joy again, in her very own person, in the light of Heaven.

Exactly as I look forward to meeting my Mary, who was also taken by cancer.

[Knight Aaron of Narnia]

I have heard there was an original version of the movie...
But I have never seen it.
I was going to look it up once...
But I'm almost always busy.
I'm going to go look for it now.

[Copperfox]

The original pulls no punches about the faith-crisis Mr. Lewis went through upon losing his wife; but UNLIKE the Hopkins version, the final speech by Joss Ackland as Mr. Lewis undeniably proclaims a faith regained.

[Copperfox]

Here's a fact that casts light on the reason WHY the later version of "Shadowlands" pays LESS respect to Mr. Lewis' Christian faith than the first version did.

The later version was directed by Richard Attenborough, who has a bias against Christianity. Attenborough made a movie about Mahatma Gandhi which portrayed Gandhi as a much BETTER person than he was in reality, whereas his "Shadowlands" made Mr. Lewis LESS wise and strong and good than he was in reality. In "Gandhi," the only way a Christian character could be considered to have any merit at all was by being meekly subordinated to the Hindu leader.