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 enlarge | Director: Richard Attenborough
Actors: Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger, Julian Fellowes, Roddy Maude-roxby, Michael Denison
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Category: Video
List Price: $9.94
Buy Used: $2.99
You Save: $6.95 (70%)
New (13) Used (37) Collectible (8) from $2.99
Rating:  113 reviews
Sales Rank: 103
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 131
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6303115454
UPC: 026359096839
EAN: 9786303115450
ASIN: 6303115454
Theatrical Release Date: January 14, 1994
Release Date: January 31, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Acceptable: Former Rental, may have significant wear to box/tape.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Anyone's Life Might Change February 18, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
As I've written before, American audiences might disagree but I think Anthony Hopkins is far more effective in these sorts of productions than he is in the Hannibal series.
Shadowlands is a demanding story that says much in some very small ways that can easily be missed. Telling the (very) true to life tale of C.S. Lewis' marriage, late in his years, to an admiring American poet, Joy Gresham, who visited Lewis and his brother at Oxford, where Lewis, along with Tolkien and some others whose names we remember today, were comfortably ensconced as collegiate dons. While at first the cerebral and emotionally distant (and timid) Lewis is slightly repelled by the extroverted, Jewish Grisham, played here by Debra Winger, Lewis eventually awakens to the realization that a part of his nature theretofore unknown to him has come alive, and the bond he feels for this unexpectedly arrived woman is real and of great meaning to him.
While in the beginning Lewis maintains he has married Grisham strictly as a courtesy that allows her to remain in Britain, the amorously inexperienced theologian and fiction writer acknowledges his love, and for a time is the happiest he has ever been. But then a tragedy clouds Lewis' new identity as husband, and also stepfather to a worshipful teenaged boy, as Grisham's dormant cancer returns with fatal results. Lewis stays by his wife to the end, and claims that the lesson he learns from this chapter in his existence is that the sadness that ultimately visits him and all others who love another is part of the joy inherent in love itself, a separate hemisphere, a reaction to an action, the darkness inextricably wedded to love's light. Lewis survives Grisham and goes on to pen more books of a spiritual and ecumenical nature, but as all who have read him or who knew him note, he was a much changed person once Grisham had passed away.
Shadowlands somehow handles a dreary subject without losing itself to morosity or melodrama. It is both a movie with a message, and also a visit to the personal life of an intensely private man few who read the Narnia series truly know. It is evenly-paced, intellectually-demanding, and openly spiritual as well as biographical. What it lacks in broad appeal it makes up for in being deeply rewarding to those willing to respect (if not embrace) the lessons Lewis believed he absorbed during the time he was given to know Joy Grisham. Those who didn't find this playing at their local multiplex years ago will be pleased with the quality of this DVD release. I recommend it be viewed without distractions, because its message wilts quite easily.
 Does God want us to suffer? Answers to be found in this movie January 15, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is an incredibly moving movie, the true life story of C S Lewis. It is a tear-jerker that answers deep questions about the meaning of life, love and suffering. Anthony Hopkins plays the role of C S Lewis perfectly, illuminating the admiration I already had for him as a writer, especially after reading Mere Christianity. He was a true gentleman, and this drama defines that through his gentleness, sacrificial giving and the great love that he himself didn't realize he possessed until faced with the deep sorrows he experienced first as a child, and then as a man.
This is one of my favorite true life stories based on the the richness and depth of the story that causes us to pause and think about the true meaning of our relationships, the true meaning of living life through all of its sorrows. Don't watch this to be entertained. Watch it for the experience.
Brilliant exploration of love, loss and renewal January 13, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I've watched this film many times and for many reasons, chiefly among them, the exquisite performances by both leads. Safe and secure in his world of intellectual pursuits and spiritual exploration, C.S. Lewis had no interest in worldly love and romance nor did he think that when he agreed to marry divorced Jewish-American poet, Joy Gresham so that she could obtain British residency, that it would go beyond a platonic friendship. However, slowly Lewis realizes that his comfortable existence is not only one of cerebral isolation but one of emotional loneliness and finds in Gresham both a feisty, intelligent friend and a profoundly brave and uncompromising woman that teaches him that a person's life cannot be measured solely by intellectual accomplishments or other noble pursuits. Watching Hopkins as Lewis, all stiff-upper-lip English rectitude, flourish into a man who, for the first time, realizes the transfixing power of love, is a lesson in acting. Winger is no less impressive as Joy Gresham, a proud and strong woman, unwilling to be undone in the face of adversity. Joy's death scene is one of the most heartbreaking ever committed to celluloid, with an inconsolable Lewis praying for his dear wife's soul. I can't tell you how that scene affects me. I'm not one to cry in films but this so beautifully and honestly done, without a trace of melodrama or maudlin excess, that you feel that you are privy to a very personal moment in these two people's lives and I just bawl my eyes out. Extraordinary acting, directing and cinematography with superb supporting performances by everyone, makes Shadowlands a truly intelligent, cogent, yet equally human cinematic experience.
A splendid movie in authentically splendid settings January 5, 2007
Others can debate the merits of 'Shadowlands' as cinema (I thought it was one of the best movies I've ever seen), but one little noticed aspect of the film is the tremendous authenticity of the choral music that forms the backdrop of the first half of the movie. The producers went to the trouble of filming scenes in the chapel of Lewis' Magdalene College, Oxford, and used the chapel choir, directed by the real choir director. A small footnote to the movie, but to those who'd know the difference, it's a terrific treat. Bravo.
Tasteful, stylish, moving December 14, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
British writer C.S. Lewis brought comfort to troubled souls with his insightful writings and lectures on the meaning of life as he saw it through the teachings of Christianity, but he achieved comfort for himself by keeping his emotions on a tight rein and avoiding intimacy. Late in life, while a don at Oxford, Lewis' correspondence with American poet Joy Gresham led to a meeting and then a romance. By opening himself to love, however, Lewis also opened himself to pain when his lady love succumbed to cancer. The man who brought comfort to others with his lectures finds that his teachings fail to guide him during his time of trouble.
"Shadowlands," directed by Richard Attenborough from a screenplay by William Nicholson (based on his play), depicts Lewis' dilemma with taste and style. Although not a Merchant-Ivory production, it invites comparisons to those films for its elegance, literacy, and the casting of Anthony Hopkins who is excellent as Lewis. As his uninhibited companion, Debra Winger is equally good.
Director Attenborough shows a sure command of the material, expertly handling its theme which is a universal one: life, love, and loss. "Shadowlands" is a moving and memorable film.
Brian W. Fairbanks
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