Monday, December 2, 2013

Examining Dream Sequences in Eragon

The fantasy adventure "Eragon," based on book one of Christopher Paolini's trilogy about a young Dragon Rider, has been drawing criticism for borrowing ideas from the "Harry Potter" series (Hagrid's dragon eggs and baby dragons), "Star Wars" series (Luke's uncle killed by evil empire), and most notably "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (darkly magical advisor, one young man must make a journey, etc). Another element that "Eragon" has in common with these other films is its use of dream sequences - in this case false dreams sent by an evil sorcerer working for a corrupt king.In the movie, a teenaged farm boy named Eragon (Edward Speleers) finds what appears to be the last dragon egg. After secretly raising the animal, Eragon reluctantly becomes a Dragon Rider in order to right some of the wrongs taking place in the kingdom of Alagaesia. In an earlier era, dragons and their riders soared through the skies keeping peace across the land until tragedy brought about the apparent extinction of the fire-breathing beasts.In addition to keeping a low profile for his own protection and that of Saphira (his dragon), Eragon struggles with other problems: when he was young his mother fled with no explanation; the uncle who raised him was murdered, despite his status as a Dragon Rider he receives little or no respect because of his young age; and he has disturbing dreams about a beautiful elf woman (Sienna Guillory as Arya) who is suffering in a prison and needs his help.Each dream provides more information about her identity, situation, and location. Eragon has no way of knowing that the dreams are not authentic, but are being sent to him telepathically by the darkly magical Durza the Shade (Robert Carlyle) who imprisoned Arya and hopes to set a trap for the young Dragon Rider.In accordance to scientific thought, most comedies and dramas attribute the source of dreams to the unconscious mind of the dreamer, but the fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres rely almost exclusively on the supernatural, pre-scientific conception of dreams originating from an outside evil source. Take Harry Potter's recurring dreams of Lord Valdemort and Anakin Skywalker's recurring dreams of his mother's death - all provided supernaturally from sources outside themselves.As with Harry and Anakin, Eragon's dreams propel him towards his destiny. This destiny is unknown to the dreamers, but is understood by older, wiser, more magical beings. In addition, as "Eragon" director Stefen Fangmeier no doubt realized, if carried out successfully, dream sequences are an excellent means of providing background information and moving the story forward without bogging things down with lengthy explanations.Copyright 2007 Leslie Halpern

For more movie news and reviews visit: http://home.roadrunner.com/~lesliehalpern Central Florida entertainment writer Leslie Halpern wrote the books "Dreams on Film: The Cinematic Struggle Between Art and Science" (McFarland & Company), an analysis of representations of sleeping and dreaming in more than 125 movies and "Reel Romance. The Lovers' Guide to the 100 Best Date Movies" (Taylor Trade Publishing), which reviews date movies and suggests romantic ideas inspired

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