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Caspian - Ben Barnes

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Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby starkat » Dec 01, 2010 12:11 pm

You definitely saw King Caspian in this film and not Prince Caspian. Barnes did an excellent job portraying a King who had begun to come into his own instead of a coddled teen prince who had been holed up in a castle all his life.

YES! The accent is gone and to a very great benefit!

I enjoyed the scene between Caspian and Edmund very much. Thought it was a good substitute for apologizing after Deathwater. I would have rather had Aslan break up the fight, but I thought this was a good way to wrap it up and show that the two had bonded as friends and brothers in their own right and not just two kings.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby icarus » Dec 01, 2010 1:43 pm

I thought Ben Barnes put in a solid performance throughout, though it was certainly nothing spectacular (especially not when put alongside Will Poulter, but then i don't think there are many young actors who could measure up to a performance like that).

Like you i was most impressed by the confrontation at Deathwater pool. It kind of came as a surprise to me how good it was as both Ben Barnes and Skandar Keynes really stepped it up a notch in this scene and delivered very strong performances. Definitely one of my favourite scenes.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby aslanscountry » Dec 01, 2010 3:42 pm

So glad to hear that Ben did well!!! I guess Will Poulter is such a natural other people will pale in comparison.

Now...I want to ask a question that has burned up a hole in my chest: do they show the scene of Caspian throwing a tantrum before they go to the End of the World?

*nervously waiting an answer* :-ss :-ss
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby rjefvh » Dec 01, 2010 5:41 pm

aslanscountry wrote:Sdo they show the scene of Caspian throwing a tantrum before they go to the End of the World?


no. it is different, but I still like the way they did it.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby aslanscountry » Dec 01, 2010 6:10 pm

:(( :(( I knew it!!! I knew they're going to screw up with the scene!!! I thought it would be interesting to see the mature and kingly Caspian behaving like a whiny child and being rebuked by Aslan and I would LOVE to see Ben pull it off (for the record...I dislike it when heroes are portrayed as two-dimensional (either good or bad) when they aren't in the book). Oh well...but I hope Caspian's longing to go to the End of the World is still apparent in the movie...

One more thing: one of my favorite funny moments in the book is Caspian's total ignorance and fascination of the modern world (e.g. him confused when Eustace told him about planes, real ship etc and his comment about the 'round earth'). Do these scenes make it to the film?

*steeling self for another 'no' answer*

EDIT: i mean two-dimensional not too dimensional...duh.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby starkat » Dec 01, 2010 7:01 pm

Caspian's impulse is very there, but if you compare Prince Caspian to King Caspian, it offers a very interesting setup for that particular plot point.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby rjefvh » Dec 02, 2010 8:38 pm

aslanscountry wrote:One more thing: one of my favorite funny moments in the book is Caspian's total ignorance and fascination of the modern world (e.g. him confused when Eustace told him about planes, real ship etc and his comment about the 'round earth'). Do these scenes make it to the film?]

*steeling self for another 'no' answer*



I do not remeber any of that making the film. But there are other funny momnets in the film with Eustace. They did put in his comment about calling the British consulate. His diary entries were great. Most of the character development with Eustace was through his relationship with Reepicheep. But the stuff with Caspian was not there, if memory serves.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby aslanscountry » Dec 02, 2010 8:53 pm

Sigh. Looks like the interesting book Caspian has been reduced to nothing more than a virtuous king in the movie. Oh well. Thanks for the info, everyone :)

found this excerpt from Dawn Treader press conf confirming my presumption above:

Ben Barnes … on how he felt about King Caspian's character being more positive in this film without any real dark side:

I read these stories when I was eight, and I watched the BBC series of it and Sam West was playing King Caspian and I thought he was amazing. They have a lot of beautiful messages to them, these films, about growing up and I think Prince Caspian does a lot of his growing up in the last film. In this one, he's more of a man, more comfortable in his own skin. So it was a simpler task for me in a lot of ways in this film. And he's made interesting with the chip on his shoulder about not having a strong male figure in his life. But I can play villains and creeps in other things. It's nice to play virtuous.


http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/LMaccorkle/11642169/
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby rjefvh » Dec 02, 2010 9:07 pm

aslanscountry wrote:
Ben Barnes … on how he felt about King Caspian's character being more positive in this film without any real dark side:

In this one, he's more of a man, more comfortable in his own skin. So it was a simpler task for me in a lot of ways in this film. And he's made interesting with the chip on his shoulder about not having a strong male figure in his life.


This sums it up well. He is more comfortable, confident, etc. The absence of his father (male figure) weighs on him and factors into the scene at the edge of Aslan's country. It comes off well. You might like it.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby aslanscountry » Dec 02, 2010 9:14 pm

rjefvh wrote:The absence of his father (male figure) weighs on him and factors into the scene at the edge of Aslan's country. It comes off well. You might like it.
oh....now that sounds interesting. Thank you for the info :)
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby RoseRed » Dec 03, 2010 6:27 am

don't worry too much aslanscountry, it's not quite in there, btu at the same time it is. wait and see :)

I thought ben barnes was brilliant... they really could've utilized him more though. He was certainly the King in this film, and portrayed the character well, his interactions with the other particularly edmund were all very strong and to be honest I felt Ben barnes lifted some of the scenes that were in danger of being weakened by... please don't kill me...georgie :/ So yeah, very well done to ben, I hope he gets a good cameo in SC :)
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby AslanIsOnTheMove » Dec 04, 2010 11:20 am

aslanscountry wrote:Sigh. Looks like the interesting book Caspian has been reduced to nothing more than a virtuous king in the movie. Oh well. Thanks for the info, everyone :)

found this excerpt from Dawn Treader press conf confirming my presumption above:

Ben Barnes … on how he felt about King Caspian's character being more positive in this film without any real dark side:

I read these stories when I was eight, and I watched the BBC series of it and Sam West was playing King Caspian and I thought he was amazing. They have a lot of beautiful messages to them, these films, about growing up and I think Prince Caspian does a lot of his growing up in the last film. In this one, he's more of a man, more comfortable in his own skin. So it was a simpler task for me in a lot of ways in this film. And he's made interesting with the chip on his shoulder about not having a strong male figure in his life. But I can play villains and creeps in other things. It's nice to play virtuous.


http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/LMaccorkle/11642169/


When he says "villains and creeps", I think he's refering to roles like Dorian Gray. I suggest you go find yourself a review of that particular movie (if you're of age and can stomach it) Compared to a character like Dorian even Book Caspian with all his flaws is a virtuous character. I haven't seen the VDT yet ( I will on the 8th) but I don't think they've taken all the flaws or the interesting points out of Caspian's character. It's just that Caspian, in all the Narnia books he appears in, is a pretty virtuous character in the end. Yes, he has his moments especially in Voyage, but in the end he comes to his senses and is what one would call good person.

Ben is a very versatile actor and doesn't always play characters who would be considered "good" people. So I think he's saying that this role is a lot more innocent and virtuous than others he's taken, not necessarily flawless.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby Warrior 4 Jesus » Dec 09, 2010 11:19 pm

Ben Barnes portrayl of King Caspian was one of the highlights of the movie, for me. I thought he portrayed him very well. Loved the beard too.
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby joy93 » Dec 10, 2010 5:24 pm

I really like Ben in this movie!!! :D He was a strong character. He gave a very accurate performance to me(even with the whole "being haunted by his father" thing.He really did a good job of being a leader!!!! ;) ;) I love the whole beard look too!!!!!! It made him look more like a king. I just wish they would have taken a bigger view with his character. The sad thing is they took out two of my favorite Caspian moments :( :( :(( :(( Even with that I still REALLY love Ben as King Caspian in Dawn Treader!!!!!! :ymapplause: :ymapplause: :ymapplause: :ymapplause:
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby Valiant » Dec 10, 2010 8:52 pm

I'll post some more detailed thoughts later, but overall I thought he did a good job. He did much better than in PC. :)
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Re: Caspian - Ben Barnes

Postby -queenSUSAN- » Dec 11, 2010 10:41 am

I loved the change from Prince to King! That was pulled off very well, except I think they could've given Ben some more dramatic material to sink his teeth into. I'm very glad the distracting accent is gone, it made Ben more kingly and I thought he did a great job! Very authoritative and aristocratic. (The scene where he agrees to let Rhince on board, although brief, served to prove my point. Also when Ed is trying to tell them to land on the Lone Islands and Caspian takes charge.)

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