Shadowlands

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Attenborough directs. Roger Pratt behind the camera. George Fenton scores. Lesley Walker cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in German, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 133 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.
• 3Directed by Richard Attenborough, shot by Roger Pratt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by George Fenton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Lesley Walker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger and Edward Hardwicke carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "He distanced himself from love as he distanced himself from pain, until one woman got close enough to open his heart to the world.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0108101 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 15 themes, including "stroke of fate", "england", "brother", "christianity".

The technical file

Cinematography

Roger Pratt

Original score

George Fenton

Editing

Lesley Walker

Production design

Stuart Craig

Costume design

Penny Rose

Runtime

131 min · 2h 11m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$22,000,000

Box office

$25,842,000

Return

117% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Shadowlands (1993) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

100% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

7.3/10 · 21,397 votes

MPAA

PG

Also by

Richard Attenborough

• 
  Gandhi

  1982 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Chaplin

  1992 · ★ 7.4
• 
  A Bridge Too Far

  1977 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Cry Freedom

  1987 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Magic

  1978 · ★ 6.8
• 
  Oh! What a Lovely War

  1969 · ★ 6.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Shadowlands - Trailer - 1993

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Filipe Manuel Neto2022-09-27
  ★ 8/10

  Hopkins and Attenborough in an emotional and feeling-filled work. When I decided to see this movie, I knew little about the life of the writer C. S. Lewis, who I only knew from having written the books "The Chronicles of Narnia". And I confess that, in order to fully understand the film and also be able to write something about it, I had the curiosity and interest to read one thing or two about him. For example, I was very impressed by his deep connection to the university and his closeness to J. R. R. Tolkien, who is also the author of a great work of fiction. In fact, thinking about it, it is interesting to see how their works share a lot of points of contact, subtle similarities. But that's a thing for another review. The film focuses on Lewis' life and, especially, on his love relationship with his American wife, Joy Gresham. Lewis was an academic, philosopher and theologian who left many works on these topics, and who unexpectedly decides to marry a recently divorced American, in a union that only later gave way to love between them. The film was inspired by a play, which in turn was inspired by the texts that Lewis wrote about what he experienced and felt. The best thing about the film, for me, is the direction and the cast performance. The director, Sir Richard Attenborough, was known for his attention to detail, cinematography and choice of locations. Considered by many to be one of the great British film directors, this film leaves us with a work full of elegance and beauty, but which seems to be largely forgotten these days, undoubtedly deserving more attention. The cast, in turn, is expertly led by Debra Winger and Sir Anthony Hopkins, a duo of actors of great quality and talent. Hopkins does deeply emotional work, in which we can see that he tried to employ a lot of feeling as well as intellect. Winger didn't impress me that much, but the great quality of her work is undeniable, especially in the moments when she plays with Hopkins or with her fictional son, played by a young boy, Joseph Mazello, who also deserves praise for a job well done. The rest of the cast gives the protagonists the necessary support, but does not stand out or stand out. The film was filmed in Oxford, and we can see how Attenboroug tried to take advantage of the original places, where Lewis would have been and that he surely knew, such as the university and academic spaces. The film gives us an aroma of the atmosphere of the old and renowned institution, and of some of the ceremonies and traditions that take place there. The cinematography is very beautiful and makes the best use of light, close-ups, landscapes and the beauty of old buildings. There are no great effects here, nor does the film need that, but we have an effective soundtrack.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Savoy Pictures

  US

• SH

  Shadowlands Productions

• PR

  Price Entertainment

• 

  Spelling Films International

  US

Key crew

• EditorLesley Walker
• ProducerRichard Attenborough
• Theatre PlayWilliam Nicholson
• ProducerBrian Eastman
• Executive ProducerTerence A. Clegg
• Assistant Art DirectorJim Morahan
• Set DecorationStephenie McMillan
• Music EditorKevin Lane
• Costume DesignPenny Rose
• GafferChuck Finch
• Production CoordinatorLeila Kirkpatrick
• Property MasterBruce Bigg
• SoundSimon Kaye
• Script SupervisorNikki Clapp
• Production DesignStuart Craig
• Sound MixerDean Humphreys
• SoundGerry Humphreys
• CastingLucy Boulting
• Assistant Costume DesignerKate Carin
• Art DirectionMichael Lamont
• SoundJonathan Bates
• Boom OperatorTommy Staples
• Still PhotographerKeith Hamshere
• Second Assistant DirectorMichael Stevenson

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• stroke of fate
• england
• brother
• christianity
• literature
• bachelor
• marriage
• biography
• based on play or musical
• oxford
• author
• writer
• falling in love
• 1950s
• children's author

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1993-12-25PG· (Los Angeles, California, New York City, New York)
• Theatrical1994-01-14

Also known as

International titles

• Les Ombres du coeurFR
• Сенчести земиBG
• Shadowlands - Ein Geschenk des AugenblicksDE
• Cienista DolinaPL