05-006 Mysterious Narnia DVD found in China

05-006
Mysterious Narnia DVD found in China

I worked in Guangzhou for many years. The city was almost my second home. Located 100 miles away from Hongkong, this distance is just too near to fly but too far away for day trips. I was normally leaving home on Monday morning and returning on Friday evening. During the week, I spent my nights there.

After office hours, I was always alone. There was not much to do inside the hostel. So, I normally went out till late. I like walking around. To learn the culture of a place, the best way is to walk around and to talk to the locals. I always did and even managed to make some friends.

In one evening, I went into a bookshop. It was the Tianhe Book Center (天河图书中心) in the city center, a huge 7 story complex filled with books. The time was 2010. It was the largest bookshop in the city at that time. In the basement, there is a section selling musical CDs and DVDs. And it was that one DVD which caught my eyes.

A Mysterious Narnia DVD

Inside the cover is a DVD wrapped in a plastic bag,
a typical Chinese way to pack a DVD.

If you have read my previous posts, you will learn that I am a big fan of epic fantasy. I like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Narnia, or anything in a medieval theme. At that time, I was waiting for the premiere of the third Narnia movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, hoping that it would be another success. It did not, but that is another story.

The cover art of the mysterious Narnia DVD

The DVD title said Narnia. But I have not seen that movie poster before. I knew that it would not be Dawn Treader, as it was not yet premiered by that time. And clearly it is not The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or Prince Caspian. Would it be a hidden Narnia adaptation, like the Russian The Hobbit TV show, which not too many people in the rest of the world have learnt about?

Image of the white witch is also printed on the DVD.
And here is the only place you can find her.

I picked the DVD up. After reading the cover, I immediately knew that the movie is a fake. The Chinese name said 猪骑士, which means “Pig Knight”, or “a knight riding a pig”. Clearly, it is a joke. But the price is just CNY 15, around USD 2. My curiosity drove me to bring it to the cashier. Since then, this distinguishing DVD sat alongside with my other epic fantasy collection on my bookshelf. But I did not really watch it, not until recently.

In one recent evening while cleaning up my bookshelf, I found this almost forgotten DVD. Being trapped in this small city for 3 years because of pandemic, I became a movie fanatic, especially on epic fantasy movies. I know it is a fake but I decided give it a try. At least I should find out what exactly it is before chucking it, I think. So, I put the DVD into the player and the movie title showed up almost instantly.

Siegfried (2005)

Siegfried! it is a 2005 German comedy movie. The word “Narnia” does not appear anywhere in the movie, except on the DVD cover. The movie also has no relationship with Narnia. It is not even a Narnia mockbuster. The only similarity between Siegfried and Narnia is perhaps all of them were set in a medieval theme. Clearly, the Chinese DVD publisher wanted to make some quick money during the Narnia hit so they put the word “Narnia” and the white witch on the cover.

Opening scene shows a medieval village

The movie is presented in its original German language with a selectable Mandarin dub. There is also a Chinese subtitle. So, I can’t say the DVD is a complete rip-off. The publisher did localized the movie a bit for the Chinese market.

The blacksmith store is also the home of Siegfried and his foster father Mime

Story of Siegfried is well known if you grow up in a Germanic background. The story itself has also been adapted many times before. The most famous one is the opera adaptation by Richard Wagner. But the 2005 movie Siegfried received a poor rating.

A medieval kitchen

I am not a German. I have not heard of the story. But thanks for the dub and subtitle, I was able to understand the movie. From it, I can also learn the story of Siegfried. But there is a slight problem. Siegfried is a comedy movie. So, most likely the plot of the movie detoured far away from the original story.

Mime and the young Siegfried

I decided to keep the DVD as a memory of the good old days of Narnia hit. I hope there would be another Narnia movie very soon. Netflix, are you listening?

Go back to the Lobby ...