Out of the Silent Planet

dms1972 · Jul 6, 2018

Although That Hideous Strength is very relevant to the issue of totalitarian ideologies, Out of the Silent Planet I think also speaks of something a highly contemporary, privately funded ventures into space. In fact we are now seeing more likelihood of small scale private ventures into space as payload kg per $ cost falls. There is for instance Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk with SpaceX. Though these are not going to result in manned travel to Mars anytime soon, the aspiration seems to be there.

Anto9us · Jul 8, 2018

I had, but lost, a hardback with all three of the trilogy in it in one volume.

Movies of the C S Lewis trilogy would be hard to do, but you never know.

V37 · Jul 26, 2018

I agree that Perelandra would need to be skipped, but the other two have great perspectives worthy of film, though THS would perhaps be rather gory. Sadly Christians are too often reluctant to pump money into the arts (eg drama, film), which is a pity when the western world needs to be repopulated with good philosophy and evangelism. Of interest on the latter book is this study - http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/conversion-in-c-s-lewis-that-hideous-strength.

The Transcendentian · Oct 24, 2020

Nobody:
Literally nobody active in this entire thread:

Me:
By the way I just gotta say, doesn't C.S. Lewis' description of lowland channels remind anyone of Valles Marineris and couldn't it be possible for the atmospheric pressure to be thicker at a lower level and doesn't that thing about Oyarsa saying his planet was dying and soon he would end it and give all his people back to God make you think that Mars could possibly once have had a magnetosphere like Earths and also an atmosphere somewhat more like Earths and also a molten interior like Earths and then Oyarsa already ended life on Mars back before the begging of the 20th century on Earth and when that happend Mars interior cooled or was cooled and therefore its magnetosphere was gone and then due to lack of magnetosphere Mars atmosphere was stripped down to what it is today and also think about how some or most of the lowland canyons could have been filled in by Mars "micro-popcorn" ((PDF) The physics of Martian weather and climate: A review (it's in their somewhere I think)) sand blown about by the wind which also covered up all traces of past civilization on Mars if Oyarsa himself didn't purposely erase them to frustrate future human explorers who God told him would come and don't you think since C.S. Lewis himself said in some afterword or prologue thingy at the end of that book that he wasn't trying to make the story scientifically accurate and some of the details were completely fabricated by his imagination (like there being noticeable gravity inside a spaceship)(to avoid censorship of the entire story by scientists of Earth) and some of the details where based on the experiences of the definitely-real-person whom he has changed the name of to Dr. Ransom.

The Transcendentian · Oct 24, 2020

Also:

Perelandra, I don't remember the other problems but I would suggest doing shoulders and above shot for the scenes that would otherwise have nudity, so it could be implied without being shown. Floating islands could be Computer Graphics with moving stepping blocks for actors to walk on to make their walking be as on moving ground. Or they could be a bunch of translucent plastic swimming pool inflatables covered in tarps and sheets.

Based on the description, Oyarsa should be depicted as a vague (possibly humanoid) shape of shimmering flickering very translucent light.

Mark Quayle · Oct 24, 2020

Anto9us said:
I had, but lost, a hardback with all three of the trilogy in it in one volume.

Movies of the C S Lewis trilogy would be hard to do, but you never know.

I would love to see that, but I don't know how one can get across what's going on in the protagonist's mind. Still, maybe someone could do a good enough job of it to be worth doing.

Mark Quayle · Oct 25, 2020

V37 said:
I agree that Perelandra would need to be skipped, but the other two have great perspectives worthy of film, though THS would perhaps be rather gory. Sadly Christians are too often reluctant to pump money into the arts (eg drama, film), which is a pity when the western world needs to be repopulated with good philosophy and evangelism. Of interest on the latter book is this study - Conversion in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength - The Gospel Coalition.

I think Perelandra might be the easiest of them.

The Transcendentian · Oct 25, 2020

Mark Quayle said:
I would love to see that, but I don't know how one can get across what's going on in the protagonist's mind. Still, maybe someone could do a good enough job of it to be worth doing.

Just have the actor narrate their characters own thoughts and the scenes when they are thinking won't show their mouth moving or anything so the viewer knows it's not supposed to be spoken words. Also possibly edit the audio of their thoughts so it sounds ethereal so the viewer will know it's supposed to be thoughts and not actual dialog.

Newsgurl · Oct 25, 2020

I remember reading this book in college. It was a very interesting book and like you said I think it would make a great movie. Maybe someday it will you never know.

Mark Quayle · Oct 26, 2020

I love CS Lewis' descriptions of how though the Eldila may be described as off-vertical, it is the whole orientation of the area in which he shows himself that can be seen to be off-level. That should not be too hard to show in a movie, nor how he isn't seen exactly by looking directly at him.

Mark Quayle · Oct 26, 2020

The Transcendentian said:
some of the details were completely fabricated by his imagination (like there being noticeable gravity inside a spaceship)

I'd have to read it again to be sure, but I thought he had said the ship rotated on an axis, producing false gravity by centrifugal force.

The Transcendentian · Oct 27, 2020

Mark Quayle said:
I'd have to read it again to be sure, but I thought he had said the ship rotated on an axis, producing false gravity by centrifugal force.

That would have been nice, but unfortunately for C.S. Lews, what he actually said was: the ship was designed with the idea of gravity pulling toward the center of the ship (which actually does happen but the effect is so small that it would take YEARS maybe even EONS to fall towards the center by just a few inches).

dms1972 · Jul 6, 2021

V37 said:
I agree that Perelandra would need to be skipped, but the other two have great perspectives worthy of film, though THS would perhaps be rather gory. Sadly Christians are too often reluctant to pump money into the arts (eg drama, film), which is a pity when the western world needs to be repopulated with good philosophy and evangelism. Of interest on the latter book is this study - Conversion in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength - The Gospel Coalition.

I found that article you link to very interesting thanks for posting.

The Liturgist · Sep 28, 2021

Quid est Veritas? said:
You can cut out the 'zoo' almost in entirety, and condense the college politics to five or ten minutes. It would mostly focus on NICE.

I liked the college politics, and they were essential for establishing the mystery of the setting and foreshadowing NICE, which was intimately connected with the colleges of Edgestow. As for the zoo, we have really good CGI now.

However, CS Lewis was opposed to films of fantasy and SF novels because he wanted readers to use their imagination to visualize the work. While this approach does not work in the case of, say, Arthur C Clarke, whose literary style is not exactly refined, CS Lewis writes prose on a par with George Orwell, but with superior skill at stimulating the imagination.

The only CS Lewis story that I could enjoy a film of would be a heavily adapted version of The Great Divorce; I would change the beautifully painted bus leading out of Hell to a jetliner, probably a classic like a Boeing 727, or this being England, maybe a Super VC10, a Trident or a Comet 4B, since in the novel the bus ascends through mist and clouds anyway. and jetliners have a more noble appearance than buses, and airline pilots are more interesting characters than bus drivers*, and I would depict as an homageto Alfred Hitchcock a demonic police force ominously waiting in their patrol cars for the impending nightfall everyone is afraid of.

*The Langoliers, with its beautiful photography of a TWA L1011, and a brilliant performance by David Morse as a bereaved captain deadheading to Boston, who saves the day, inspired me in this respect. I also feel that Left Behind completely rips it off, with the airline pilot played by Nicholas Cage being an obvious copy in this notoriously bad introduction to a notoriously bad filming of the notoriously flawed eschatology of John Nelson Darby. The Omega Code despite low production values I thought was much better as an eschatological film, largely riding on the masterful performance of Michael York as the antichrist.

The Liturgist · Sep 28, 2021

V37 said:
I agree that Perelandra would need to be skipped, but the other two have great perspectives worthy of film, though THS would perhaps be rather gory. Sadly Christians are too often reluctant to pump money into the arts (eg drama, film), which is a pity when the western world needs to be repopulated with good philosophy and evangelism. Of interest on the latter book is this study - Conversion in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength - The Gospel Coalition.

Perelandra was my favorite book in the trilogy!

The Liturgist · Sep 28, 2021

The Transcendentian said:
Also:

Perelandra, I don't remember the other problems but I would suggest doing shoulders and above shot for the scenes that would otherwise have nudity, so it could be implied without being shown. Floating islands could be Computer Graphics with moving stepping blocks for actors to walk on to make their walking be as on moving ground. Or they could be a bunch of translucent plastic swimming pool inflatables covered in tarps and sheets.

Based on the description, Oyarsa should be depicted as a vague (possibly humanoid) shape of shimmering flickering very translucent light.

I would have no problems with nudity in Perelandra. Indeed, the idea of sinless nudity was kind of the point. Covering it up would be akin to the removable fig leaf the replica of Michaelangelo’s David at the Victoria and Albert was fitted with.

And its not like either Ransom or the evil professor who was one of the two villains in Out of the Silent Planet, whose colleague, Professor Devine, who had an impressive sports car, I’m guessing a first gen Lotus or a custom Bentley roadster, or perhaps an early Bristol, or an Armstrong Siddeley, got killed at the end of the finale.

The Liturgist · Sep 28, 2021

dms1972 said:
Joking aside, you're right Perelandra couldn't been done, for that and many more reasons such as floating islands, and journeying underground and scaling a cliff in pitch darkness.

Those complexities would make it thrilling. The Green Lady I think would not come out as unintelligent, since she made the correct decision when presented a choice.

The Transcendentian · Sep 28, 2021

The Liturgist said:
I would have no problems with nudity in Perelandra. Indeed, the idea of sinless nudity was kind of the point. Covering it up would be akin to the removable fig leaf the replica of Michaelangelo’s David at the Victoria and Albert was fitted with.

And its not like either Ransom or the evil professor who was one of the two villains in Out of the Silent Planet, whose colleague, Professor Devine, who had an impressive sports car, I’m guessing a first gen Lotus or a custom Bentley roadster, or perhaps an early Bristol, or an Armstrong Siddeley, got killed at the end of the finale.

Nudity in a Christian film?

I have no idea what you mean by talking about a sports car... ?

The Liturgist · Sep 29, 2021

The Transcendentian said:
Nudity in a Christian film?

It’s in the Sistine Chapel, and other great works of Christian art, and its not like we’re talking about risque or salacious material. There is no sexual content in Perelandra.

I have no idea what you mean by talking about a sports car... ?

In That Hideous Stength, Devine, one of the two villains from Out of the Silent Planet (the other, in the course of a fight to the death with Ransom, dies in Perelandra) tries unsuccessfully to flee Edgestow before its divinely ordained destruction in his sports car, which previously had enthralled the young protagonist.

dms1972 · Sep 29, 2021

The Liturgist said:
Those complexities would make it thrilling. The Green Lady I think would not come out as unintelligent, since she made the correct decision when presented a choice.

The Liturgist said:
It’s in the Sistine Chapel, and other great works of Christian art, and its not like we’re talking about risque or salacious material. There is no sexual content in Perelandra.

In That Hideous Stength, Devine, one of the two villains from Out of the Silent Planet (the other, in the course of a fight to the death with Ransom, dies in Perelandra) tries unsuccessfully to flee Edgestow before its divinely ordained destruction in his sports car, which previously had enthralled the young protagonist.

That's right except his own car had been nicked, and he set about looking for another of the same sort.

As regards nudity, a minor theme in Perelandra is that from Ransom's standpoint of christian faith, he is not tempted towards lustful thoughts perhaps because he has matured spiritually during his previous adventure, but also he is God's man in the situation and is no doubt spiritually protected, and the unfalleness of Perelandra seems to have some sort of effect on him. He knows he will never quite look at a woman the way he has looked at the Green Lady. He'll not be sinlessly perfect after he returns to earth.

Now its not perhaps essential to replicate this aspect of the story if it was ever made into a film, the Green Lady could be clothed in some attire, but one aspect of the temptation was when the Unman (Weston after he becomes possessed) offers her a mirror to see herself - this Ransom realises was not merely a temptation to vanity, but to put her in a more perilous position spiritually - to see herself walking alongside herself - this is a key theme in the novel - for the Unman is tempting her to step out of the centre where she is in union with Maleldil "into the alongside" - its also a key theme in Lewis's doctrine of Man and the Fall of man.

I suppose one way to do it would be to depict the Green Lady as glowing or having a radiance such that one cannot tell whether she is clothed or not, a bit like the Sarah Smith of Golder's Green character in The Great Divorce (although in that story she is in heaven). But from an actresses POV many would probably prefer some clothing or outfit while playing the role - I suppose the radiance could be added afterwards and someone acting the part could wear something bodyfitting during the acting scenes?

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