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Shadowlands (film)

Shadowlands is a 1993 British biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough. The screenplay by William Nicholson is based on his 1985 television production and 1989 stage adaptation of the same name. The original television film began life as a script entitled I Call it Joy written for Thames Television by Brian Sibley and Norman Stone. Sibley later wrote the book, Shadowlands: The True Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman.

Plot synopsis

Set in the 1950s, the film focuses on reserved, middle aged bachelor C. S. Lewis, an Oxford University academic at Magdalen College and author of The Chronicles of Narnia series of children's books, and his relationship with divorced American poet Joy Gresham and her young son Douglas. What begins as a formal meeting of two very different minds slowly develops into an intense feeling of connection and love. Lewis finds his quiet life with his brother Warnie disrupted by the outspoken, feisty Gresham, whose uninhibited behavior offers a sharp contrast to the rigid sensibilities of the male-dominated university. Each provides the other with new ways of viewing the world. Initially their marriage is one of convenience, a platonic union designed to allow Gresham to remain in England. But when she is diagnosed with cancer, deeper feelings surface, and Lewis' faith is tested as his wife tries to prepare him for her imminent death.

Principal cast

Anthony Hopkins ..... C. S. Lewis
Debra Winger ..... Joy Gresham
Edward Hardwicke ..... Warnie Lewis
Joseph Mazzello ..... Douglas Gresham
James Frain ..... Peter Whistler
Julian Fellowes ..... Desmond Arding
Michael Denison ..... Harry Harrington
John Wood ..... Christopher Riley

Critical reception

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film "intelligent, moving and beautifully acted.

Rita Kempley of the Washington Post described it as "a high-class tear-jerker" and a "literate hankie sopper" and added, "William Nicholson's screenplay brims with substance and wit, though it's essentially a soap opera with a Rhodes scholarship . . . [Winger] and Hopkins lend great tenderness and dignity to what is really a rather corny tale of a love that was meant to be.

In Variety, Emanuel Levy observed, "It's a testament to the nuanced writing of William Nicholson . . . that the drama works effectively on both personal and collective levels . . . Attenborough opts for modest, unobtrusive direction that serves the material and actors . . . Hopkins adds another laurel to his recent achievements. As always, there's music in his speech and nothing is over-deliberate or forced about his acting . . . Coming off years of desultory and unimpressive movies, Winger at last plays a role worthy of her talent.