Out of the Silent Planet

[dms1972]

After the Narnia franchise, I am wary about asking for another CS Lewis novel to be made into a movie, some books just don't make the transition well. To the best of my knowledge nothing has been done with Out of the Silent Planet, would it work converted into film? I always thought the beginning of Flash Gordon owed a little to CS Lewis, its not impossible Queen were fans of CS Lewis. When they take off in Hans Zarkov's rocket. There the similiarity ends!

But if it was done right, and I mean right, like independently, not hollywood - it might be interesting, plenty of tension and excitement at the end when they try to get back to Earth before the spaceship 'unbodies' and the earth goes out of alignment.

I can hear them travelling through space to strains of Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygen -has that otherworldly sense about it.

Anyone like the idea. Thread is just for chit chat about how you'd like to see it done?

 

[Radagast]

After the Narnia franchise, I am wary about asking for another CS Lewis novel to be made into a movie, some books just don't make the transition well. To the best of my knowledge nothing has been done with Out of the Silent Planet, would it work converted into film?

It would make a great movie. But the special effects needed would cost $$$$, and I'm not sure the book has the fan base to justify it. Also, you would need a film-maker who agreed with the philosophy.

Here's one person's idea:

 

[Radagast]

And yes, JMJ is great!

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

I don't see how the idea of 'experience of deep heaven' can be easily translated on screen. Nor how the Oyarsa would be depicted. Without the description, I think it would be a bit caricaturish for balls of light or such entities in Science Fiction.

When Perelandra comes around in the trilogy it would bomb, as how would the Green Lady be depicted? She would merely appear an airhead. Only That Hideous Strength could maybe make a fairly good transition to the screen, I think.

I would watch it, but invariably I think the books would be better.

 

[dms1972]

I don't see how the idea of 'experience of deep heaven' can be easily translated on screen. Nor how the Oyarsa would be depicted. Without the description, I think it would be a bit caricaturish for balls of light or such entities in Science Fiction.

When Perelandra comes around in the trilogy it would bomb, as how would the Green Lady be depicted? She would merely appear an airhead. Only That Hideous Strength could maybe make a fairly good transition to the screen, I think.

I would watch it, but invariably I think the books would be better.

In regard to deep heaven, yes that's a major theme of OOTSP, its not empty space, but like sailing through an ocean of radiance. That's were the soundtrack would come to the aid of the visuals, it would have to ethereal and otherworldly, and majestic in places. Maybe there is something by Vangelis that might fit the bill?

If you want to experiment, open a couple of tabs, one with this:

And open another with instrumental music of your choice and see what fits

The star graphics are of course very unlike travelling the distance between planets in our solar system.

 

[dms1972]

Regards fan base, it may not be read as much today, I don't know, but it probably has an older fan base.

 

[dms1972]

Regards cost a lot of rather pleasing effects can be done rather inexpensively, for instance cloudy dyes in various liquid mediums, can give rise to rather nice liquid sky effects for other planets.

 

[Inkfingers]

Nice idea, if they could avoid making it into the usual crass and loud nonsense which defines 99% of movies.

 

[dms1972]

It would make a great movie. But the special effects needed would cost $$$$, and I'm not sure the book has the fan base to justify it. Also, you would need a film-maker who agreed with the philosophy.

Here's one person's idea:

Scott Glenn, what character would he be?

That's a very nice bit of fan art, thanks for sharing.

 

[dms1972]

On the music front for when they first leave earth, how about a little bit of Emerson Lake and Palmer: Fanfare for the Common Man?

 

[Mark Quayle]

I think several things would be really hard to do well. At first glance, for example, it might seem like putting all things askew in relation to the orientation of the Oyarsa would be a simple trick, but it would take some real skill to make that to apparently affect the heart and mind of Ransom, or to see it from his point of view. I would dearly love to see it done well, though.

I have some real issues with Peter Jackson's liberties and interpretations done with LOTR, but overall I very much applaud the work and particularly the atmosphere or "feel" of age and mystery in most of it. I doubt anybody could have done better. But this ....I don't know.

I would definitely watch it, though.

 

[dms1972]

I don't see how the idea of 'experience of deep heaven' can be easily translated on screen. Nor how the Oyarsa would be depicted. Without the description, I think it would be a bit caricaturish for balls of light or such entities in Science Fiction.

When Perelandra comes around in the trilogy it would bomb, as how would the Green Lady be depicted? She would merely appear an airhead. Only That Hideous Strength could maybe make a fairly good transition to the screen, I think.

I would watch it, but invariably I think the books would be better.

Just make it as a one off - cosmic voyage type movie, there and back again.

How would the Green Lady be depicted?

Hopefully nothing like this!

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2008/0929/page2_s_slavegirl_600.jpg

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.

As to Oyarsa and the Edila - leaving aside the philosophy of Ray Bradbury - their is an episode in his Martian Chronicles, were these two monk/missionaries are lost on Mars, and these coloured spheres of light appear, one of the monks wants to know if they have are intelligent or have a moral consciousness, and he jumps from a height to see if they will respond. The spheres are the 'old ones'. I think its time coloured spheres representing extra-terrestrial intelligences made a come back in sci-fi movies. If it was done well, wouldn't really matter if it is a sci-fi trope from the past. The whole thing should have slightly vintage sci-fi flavour.

 

[Radagast]

Regards cost a lot of rather pleasing effects can be done rather inexpensively

Yeah, but realistic aliens cost $$$.

 

[dms1972]

Christians should give to arts projects particularly those based on Christian writers, but I know the difficulty all too well. I was on a steering group some years ago, we tried to raised money locally for CS Lewis based projects, mainly donations from churches, we got about enough to fund an archive, a collection of primary and secondary works by and about Lewis which we donated to a main library in our city. Beyond that projects for a video about Lewis, and other ideas, had to go to the wall.

 

[dms1972]

Yeah, but realistic aliens cost $$$.

Not to mention Scott Glenn on the cast. I am just floating the idea for chit chat, and to listen to others' ideas about what way it could be done.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Just make it as a one off - cosmic voyage type movie, there and back again.

How would the green lady be depicted?

Please God I hope nothing like this!

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2008/0929/page2_s_slavegirl_600.jpg

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.

As to Oyarsa and the Edila - leaving aside the philosophy of Ray Bradbury - their is an episode in his Martian Chronicles, were these two monk/missionaries are lost on Mars, and these coloured spheres of light appear, one of the monks wants to know if they have are intelligent or have a moral consciousness, and he jumps from a height to see if they will respond. The spheres are the 'old ones'. I think its time coloured spheres representing extra-terrestrial intelligences made a come back in sci-fi movies. If it was done well, wouldn't really matter if it is a sci-fi trope from the past. The whole thing should have slightly vintage sci-fi flavour.

I think most of the depth thereof would have to be jettisoned. I do think a story set in the Hadramit amongst a Hrossa hunt would be interesting, perhaps culminating in the scene before the Oyarsa where Ransom attempts to translate Weston's speech, showing how it becomes merely nonsense in Malacandran thought. It would be very difficult to do though, so I am sceptical of their being much material for adaptation there... unless you end up with a 2001, a Space Odyssey-esque thing.

I think That Hideous Strength would be easier and cheaper to adapt, and its totalitarian and domination themes would be more pertinent to our current political climate. I mean, they are even talking of keeping decapitated heads alive!

 

[dms1972]

Well That Hideous Strength would be good also, but its a pretty slow burn. I did like the story but its first third is largely college politics Whether it would be easier in terms of effects depends on the ease of doing a scene involving having a private zoo set loose in a mansion, including but not limited to an elephant and tiger, and large brown bear. That might take a bit of staging, and a lorry load of animal trainers.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Well That Hideous Strength would be good also, but its a pretty slow burn. I did like the story but its first third is largely college politics Whether it would be easier in terms of effects depends on the ease of doing a scene involving having a private zoo set loose in a mansion, including but not limited to an elephant and tiger, and large brown bear. That might take a bit of staging, and a lorry load of animal trainers.

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.

 

[dms1972]

I agree the college politicing and manoeuvring could covered in ten or fifteen minutes. Its significance in the book, resides in the tergiversation of the progressive element of Bracton in its debating the issue of Bragdon wood showing how the ancient woodland with lots of historical significance is repeatedly spoken of as "pink area on map" in discussion, and thus any attachments people have to it on grounds of its being an ancient heritage site are not aroused. By that and other means they enginner the result they want. Thomas Howard has a good essay in a book called The Pilgrim's Guide on the themes in That Hideous Strength, one is how language is being gradually unmade by Belbury, even before the end of the story when they completely lose the capacity to communicate with each other.

If you cut 'almost entirely' the private zoo at Belbury, which is being used for laboratory experimentation, a part of the story's denoument which is Nature revolting against those who have cast their lot in with anti-natural spirits (the macrobes / dark eldila) would be missing. The architects of a sterile, metallic kind of substitute for nature, get their come-uppance when the zoo animals break loose, and invade their banquet.

The rest of the story alternates between Jane at St. Anne' on the Hill and Mark at Belbury - the contrasts being made clear. Jane's experience at St. Anne's after her talk with Ransom, when she goes out into the garden and suddenly she finds she has walked into the Presence of someone, and her inner world is changed, would be difficult to convey, except perhaps through a narrator reading an excerpt of the story at that point.

 

[dms1972]

I think several things would be really hard to do well. At first glance, for example, it might seem like putting all things askew in relation to the orientation of the Oyarsa would be a simple trick, but it would take some real skill to make that to apparently affect the heart and mind of Ransom, or to see it from his point of view. I would dearly love to see it done well, though.

I have some real issues with Peter Jackson's liberties and interpretations done with LOTR, but overall I very much applaud the work and particularly the atmosphere or "feel" of age and mystery in most of it. I doubt anybody could have done better. But this ....I don't know.

I would definitely watch it, though.

Yes Lewis had an amazing way of conveying disorientation in words when in the proximity of the the Oyarsa. Also in That Hideous Strength when Jane, not knowing what is happening, finds herself feeling as small as a mouse all of a sudden due to the hugeness of the presence approaching, and Ransom says to her "Go, this is no place for us small ones, but I am enured".

I think the mothership scenes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind might give a little bit of an impression of what Lewis may have had in mind there.