Review of Shadowlands (1993) by Erik K — 18 Sep 2005

Love stories are a dime-a-dozen these days. Whether they be harlequin novels or sappy romance movies, love stories abound, but very few of them are as deep and selfless as ?Shadowlands.?

In a vast shift from normal Hollywood fare, ?Shadowlands? is about C.S. Lewis?s brief marriage to Helen Joy Davidman. It?s such a unique idea to tell the love story of such a great and Christian man who, before Helen?s arrival, was a confirmed bachelor, secure in his singlehood and not prone to romantic aspirations. Here was a consummate logician, firm in his place in life, never expecting nor looking for love. Yet God has a sharp sense of humor, does he not?

The film chronicles their relationship from the first, awkward meeting to the tearful farewell. Intimately shot, the scenes feel less like a stage and more as if you?re a fly on the wall, experiencing everything with them. Their relationship, though short-lived, is one of the deepest I will ever find in film as well as in life. Who would have thought that Hollywood could actually bring us a model worth emulating?

Helen and C.S. were an odd couple from the start, he, the consummate Englishman, and she, the consummate New Yorker, brash attitude and all.

Lewis is marvelously played by Anthony Hopkins whose versatility never ceases to amaze me. He can play a psychotic, cannibalistic serial killer in ?Silence of Lambs? as adeptly as he can one of the most beloved thinkers in modern Christendom. What talent.

Unlike most romance movies I have seen, their love isn?t based on physical attraction. They were friends first, lovers later, and even then their love was based on their adoration for each other?s character. My only gripe with the film is that they soften Lewis?s massive witness and make it more palatable for a wider audience.

Their deep and selfless love is remarkable, but what I find even more remarkable is the depth of character Lewis displays when he plumbs his grief after her untimely passing scarcely two years after they wed. This is a love story for all those who have lost one dear to them.