[Play and 1993 screenplay by William Nicholson, 1985 television script by William Nicholson and Norman Stone]
Shadowlands (1993) is one of my favorite feature films of all time (for other favorites, see my list in the left sidebar). If you're not familiar with it, you can take a look at its IMDb page. Anthony Hopkins breaks my heart with his portrayal of the learned and stiff-upper-lipped author C. S. Lewis (or "Jack," as he preferred to be called) who falls in love with the outspoken American poet Joy Gresham (née Helen Joy Davidman). She has admired him greatly from across the pond, through his books and also through their correspondence which began in 1950. In fact, she loves him even before travelling to Oxford to meet him.
I suppose one of the reasons I love their story so much is my identification with Joy. I understand completely her feelings for him. What vaguely disappoints me about the film, however, is Debra Winger. I've only seen her in two other films (Terms of Endearment and Legal Eagles), but that's enough for me to conclude that there is something about her screen persona that just doesn't—well, endear her to me. Her portrayal of Joy is, I concede, quite moving especially in the second half of the film, but her uneven New York accent detracts a bit from her performance. I really wish she had done without it altogether.
This film is graced by the luscious score of George Fenton, whose ability to mimic the music of any period is truly astonishing.
After many viewings of the film, the screenplay of which was written by William Nicholson, I decided I needed to read the stage play. But Nicholson's 1989 play of the same name was actually adapted from a multi-award-winning 1985 BBC television movie, whose screenplay was co-written by Nicholson and the movie's creator/director, Norman Stone. So I decided to watch it first. It features Joss Ackland as a Jack startlingly close to what I had imagined Jack to be like, and Claire Bloom, a wonderful Joy, less abrasive than Winger, and sans New York accent. This version is much more faithful to the real-life story than is the 1993 feature film, though it is perhaps less emotionally satisfying. There are longer philosophical conversations between Jack and Joy. I didn't bawl like a baby when I watched it, as I did (do) watching the feature film, and I sorely missed Fenton's great musical score, but Ackland's compelling performance kept my eyes glued to the screen.
Both the feature film and the BBC TV film are available on DVD. The DVD of the latter includes both the 90-minute original British version and the 73-minute American (PBS) version. (Why on earth are American versions of BBC productions always shorter???)
I really enjoyed reading Nicholson's lovely play (which can be purchased here, though there are cheaper copies to be had). Nigel Hawthorne was the C. S. Lewis for both the premiere run in Plymouth and on Broadway; Joy was played by Jane Lapotaire in Plymouth and by Jane Alexander in New York. My copy of the play contains photos of the New York cast. In reading the play, I grew even fonder of Joy, and all the other characters as well—even cynical Christopher Riley. The play is in two acts and the set called for is divided into two areas, one within the other. The inner area is divided from the outer by a screen which rises and falls as scenery is changed. One of the things I particularly enjoy about reading plays is reading the stage directions, which, though strictly informative and usually not at all literary, are nevertheless the equivalent of the narrative in novels and short stories. Their very nature, cursory and dry, demands that the reader engage his imagination, much more so than while reading descriptively generous narrative. Reading plays is harder work than reading novels. Most of the characters' psychology and motivation lie in the dialogue. Usually, you get only the most basic help from the stage directions, and many actors themselves dislike relying on them to aid them in delivery or in fleshing out their characters. Some even pencil them out completely when they first read the script so as not to be distracted by them.
Anyway, I digress a bit. The play's seamless flowing in and out of the two areas of the stage, and characters entering and exiting a scene across chronological lapses, lend a certain "stream of consciousness" to the story, as if the play were unfolding in Lewis' memory, though it is not a flashback. I found this mesmerizing and supportive of the philosophical and spiritual aspects in the material. I would love to see this play in person. It isn't a strict adaptation of the TV film, though of course much of the dialogue was taken from it. The feature film is a blending of both its predecessors.
Sorry, but it's impossible to write about the story without divulging the fact that Joy has cancer and dies. Besides, any fan of C. S. Lewis knows about that. Shadowlands is, more than anything, the story of Lewis' emotional evolvement and revelation, the opening of his heart and soul to love and the pain it sometimes brings. His writings and lectures on pain have always emphasized pain's salvific power, as Nicholson points out in the character's opening monologue, utilizing material from Lewis' writings:
God loves us, so He makes us the gift of suffering. Through suffering, we release our hold on the toys of this world, and know that our true good lies in another world. We're like blocks of stone, out of which the sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much, are what make us perfect. The suffering in the world is not the failure of God's love for us; it is that love in action. For believe me, this world that seems to us so substantial, is no more than the shadowlands. Real life has not begun yet.
Though he wrote and lectured effectively on suffering, Lewis only learns the truth of his own words after enduring the crucible of losing Joy. Always before, he had repressed whatever pain came into his life—the death of his mother, for instance—and tucked it neatly away beneath the cozy quilt of learning, literature, and lecturing. By allowing himself to love Joy, he learns to deal with suffering as a necessary part of inner growth. Through it all, his faith in God and in the "real life" that exists beyond the shadowlands is strengthened.
I highly recommend all three formats.
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