Movies don't always have to have an exciting premise. Sometimes a touching romance is not about two passionate young lovers but about an older couple finding each other long after their well-travelled youth. Shadowlands does not even have The African Queen's adventuresome setting, being set amid the quietness of 1950s Oxford. And yet it has on its side exceptional writing, deep humanity and good taste. Based by writer William Nicholson on an episode in the life of author C.S. Lewis, every scene is like a warm and meticulously sculpted syllabub, a little slice of human interaction that, whether joyful, angry or sad seems shot through with affection and universal truth.The picture benefits considerably from the sublime tranquillity of its lead man Anthony Hopkins. Blessed with such a piercing gaze, Hopkins has never needed to do anything ostentatious to hold our attention, but this is not to say his acting is simple. Shadowlands sees him moving in the depths of serene understatement, portraying a man not so much repressed as sparing in his emotional expression. When he does have a few outbursts towards the end of the movie, the effect hits us all the harder. On the other hand, Debra Winger seems to me a rather lazy choice for the role of Joy Gresham, since her most successful role prior to that had been in Terms of Endearment as another woman dying of cancer. She gives a decent account of herself though, showing us a woman with a hard exterior around a warm heart.Richard Attenborough has never been anything more than a mediocre director of drama or comedy or action, or anything. But he does have a few exceptional qualities, and one is the beauty with which he endows his work. There are several moments in Shadowlands, such as when Hopkins and Winger ascend a narrow staircase onto a tower top, or wend their way through the Herefordshire countryside, that something quietly breathtaking will slowly steal across the shot. Attenborough gives us a feeling of awe at landscapes and cityscapes without drawing too much obvious attention to them. Above all he directs with a slow subtlety that grants the picture its necessary dignity. One of the strangest things about it all was that when he helmed this movie he had just come back from playing a man with a bad Scots accent in Jurassic Park.Despite being all about the man, Shadowlands barely mentions the high fantasy of Lewis's Narnia novels for which he is best-known. The fact that he is famous for his work in fact seems entirely inconsequential to the story. Rather, it's the case that a handful of real events of his life have provided a story in themselves. This is a picture that is often profoundly moving in its normality.

Shadowlands is a wonderful movie, for so many reasons: the fact that it is about the author of the Narnia books (many people know nothing about him except for "Narnia"), the beautiful interiors and the academic, time-honoured atmosphere at the old university, philosophical thoughts, poetical language, the fact that Anthony Hopkins had the lead (everything with Antony Hopkins in it automatically becomes sublime!)... One wishes that one could have had a teacher like Lewis/Hopkins when one was young! :-) But best of all was the love story, of course. It was very romantic when the bogus marriage turned into real love, and the couple got married for real with a priest! This is of course a not uncommon theme in romantic movies - but this time it was about real people, and it had happened just like that in reality, which made the impact on the viewer even stronger! ...and it was of course even more tragic when Joy (the American wife) died, as love had come to C.S. Lewis so late in life...The reasons I give the movie "only" 9 stars instead of 10, are two. First, I did not find the American woman very sympathetic. It would have been much more fun with a nicer and more beautiful woman as Lewis'/Hopkins' great love... Of course it might be that she is portrayed accurately, but as the portrait of Lewis is also romanticized (he was not as handsome or charming as Hopkins! :-) ), the filmmakers could have used their poetical license to make the wife a more lovable character as well! The other reason is that I found the movie just a little too slow and long. It would have been a great improvement if they had shortened the slow parts with 10-15 minutes all in all.

Many years ago I read C.S. Lewis' wonderful book "A Grief Observed" - essentially his journal of his journey to rediscover his faith after the death from cancer of his wife Joy Gresham. I didn't deliberately steal the concept from Lewis, but perhaps he was at the back of my mind, since now, as a pastor, I often at funerals remind mourners that "grief is the price we pay for love." A concept similar to a central theme in both that book and this movie. This movie, which deals with the Lewis-Gresham relationship, surprised me in some ways. I had their relationship burned into my memory as a sudden and passionate thing, with Lewis being swept off his feet by this vivacious American divorcée. Instead, we see here a picture of a very cautious relationship that develops slowly. Lewis, the lifelong bachelor, meets Gresham and is clearly taken with her, but always maintains a distance. Even when they marry, it's - in Lewis' words - only "technically," so that Joy can claim his British citizenship as her own. The romance - the open acknowledgement of love - comes only after her diagnosis, when Lewis is forced to confront the fact that she gives his life meaning, and that he can't imagine life without her, and they're married "properly" - by clergy, before God and without hiding the fact. Then, of course, there is the remission of her cancer, its return and her death, which forces Lewis to re-evaluate everything he believes about God, in the end, coming back to the realization that pain is a part of happiness, and that God is not to be blamed for Joy's death, but thanked for her life.Although the movie is spiritual, it's not in your face religious. It's a human movie; a sensitive movie - in the end, it's very moving. There's a lot of theological reflection that takes place on the relationship between suffering and faith, pain and happiness and how God fits into the picture, but there's nothing here that demands that one be a believer to enjoy this. It's fascinating to see the evolution of Lewis, who - by the sudden love he feels for Joy - has to change virtually everything about his life; perhaps best summed up by the bedroom scene, in which, on the first night they share a room together, Joy asks him what his routine is. He describes it, but then admits that he doesn't know what to do now that she's part of it. She says something like "you do everything you did before, then you just lie down - and I'm here." That exchange summed up both the gentleness of the movie and the challenge for Lewis of re-evaluating his entire life and everything he believed. C.S. Lewis is best known, of course, as an author of children's books. Fewer people realize that he was also quite an accomplished theologian. Regardless of how you think of him, though, he is a fascinating man, and while this movie is certainly gentle rather than exciting and romantic rather than passionate, it provides a fascinating glimpse of his spiritual journey. One also shouldn't overlook the excellent performances from Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger in the lead roles. 8/10

The famous author of the Narnia chronicles' life is effected by his correspondence with an American Poet. His friendship grows, resulting in his 'technical marriage' to her to enable her to live in the UK. She falls ill and only then does he realise his true feelings for her. Feelings that he has protected himself from for his entire life.I knew it from the first moment I watched Shadowlands, but many years later I watched it again and knew that my earlier feelings were true. This is as perfect a film as I would love to watch. The writing is exact in every word, the acting true and sublime, the cinematography heavenly and the direction pulls the viewer into the story and doesn't let go to the very end. Criticise it at your peril because this is one film that I can confidently defend without fear of attrition. If you don't like it then you're opinion is wrong. Plain and simple.