The
film begins with the 1940 bombing of Finchley, London, during the
Blitz. The Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, are in
direct danger from the falling bombs - a scene which did not appear in
the original C.S. Lewis book and which at the very start introduces the
underlying tension and jealousy between Edmund and his siblings which
would have a major role in the later plot.
Subsequently, the children are - as in the book - evacuated to the
country home of Professor Kirke. One day while they are playing hide
and seek, Lucy discovers a wardrobe and enters a wintry fantasy world
called Narnia. She spends a few hours in the home of the faun, Mr.
Tumnus, who explains that the White Witch cursed Narnia, and it has
been winter for one hundred years. In accordance with her orders, if a
human is ever encountered, a Narnian must bring them to her. However,
Tumnus likes Lucy and can't bring himself to kidnap her so he sends her
home. When she returns, hardly any time has passed in the normal world,
and when the other children check the Wardrobe, all they see is a
normal wooden back - the portal is gone...
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