Fellowship of the Ring

If I had Peter Jackson for 15 minutes and could ask him one question, I’d ask him why he thought he had license to re-write the story. I thought he was a big fan of the books. I can see now why CT would have a fit.

KH

Elen silë lúmesse omentiemman

There was no way PJ was going to be able to get the entire FotR into a three hour movie. Cuts had to be made. And with cuts, come inevitable changes. In addition, not everything in the book would have translated well to movie format. (Frankly, I’m just as glad he PJ came up with an alternate scene for Prancing Pony – I do not think I could have taken watching Elijah Wood dancing on a bar singing “The Cow Jumped Over the Moon”). I don’t think he made any changes that weren’t true to the spirit of the book. I was disappointed in the truncation of some of the scenes (like Lothlorien and the Council of Elrond), but there were still aspects of each that made the changes work. For example, virtually all of the lines in Lothlorien were verbatim from the book. And that image of the arguing races reflected in the One Ring at the Council was absolutely masterful. I loved the symbolism of learned discussion breaking down to lowly argument among the races, reflected in the ring, with all the races of Middle Earth represented, and then the flames overtaking the image, with only Frodo aware of the Ring’s hold over the Council. Ten seconds of genius.

Sorry, I must have missed the part of the book that told how Arwen came out and got Frodo and rode him across the river. Oh yeah, and the part where she commanded the flood, and Gandalf “talking” to the bug, and the wizards physically fighting, and the Ring Bearer making the decision to go through Moria, and the general “nasty” attitude of Elrod, and…..and….and…ad nauseam. As I recall, the discussion never developed into the disorganized shouting match that was portrayed at the council. Frodo accepted the Quest after Bilbo had offered to take the ring. Re-read the council of Elrod. They all sat silent and Frodo quietly said he would take the ring. Aragorin didn’t meet Arwen at Rivendel, she was at Lothlorein. BTW, Galadriel wasn’t a telepath, either.

KH

Elen silë lúmesse omentiemman

Galadriel looked into the minds of each of the company in Lothlorien and read their hearts’ desires in the books. If that ain’t telepathic, I don’t know what is.

You didn’t honestly expect an exact replay of the book on the screen did you? Can you imagine how dull the Council of Elrond would have come across? I fully expected that Radagast was going to get the axe (since I already knew Bombadil did). There was need for a plot device to get an eagle to save Gandalf. I had no problem with giving Gandalf some of Radagast’s powers to talk with animals to effect that.

It was already well known that Arwen’s role was going to be expanded. I’m not entirely sure what difference it made, having her or Elrond command the flood. After all, she was already on the scene, whereas some sort of additional explanation was going to have to be made to get Elrond on the scene. It isn’t as if they had Bill the Pony uttering Elvish to create the flood.

And Elrond’s attitude *was* nasty in the book at times. Both he and Celeborn come across as aloof and almost esthete in different portions of LotR. So I saw that as true to Tolkien’s depictions.

The Council of Elrond as it was depicted in the books would never have translated to the big screen. For one thing, it would have taken up most of the three hours all on its own. And three hours of talking heads does not make for a good movie (ever see “My Dinner with Andre”?). That ten seconds of reflection in the ring explained everything important in a visceral way. Instead of talking heads explaining why the ring had to go to the Cracks of Doom, it was illustrated in ten seconds.

Keep in mind that the movie was not called “Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Rings”. It was “Fellowship of the Rings”, based on JRR Tolkien. Jackson (and spoilers that have been leaking out for two years) made it clear that Arwen’s role was going to be expanded, that things were going to be cut out or changed. The important part to me was that it was true to the spirit of the book. Nobody’s motivations were changed, although scenes were changed to help illustrate their motivations. The story of the Ring and its impact on the affairs of Middle Earth is exactly as Tolkien wrote. The good guys are still the good guys, the bad guys are still the bad guys, and the shades of grey are ever true.

It was already well known that Arwen’s role was going to be expanded. I’m not entirely sure what difference it made, having her or Elrond command the flood. After all, she was already on the scene SHE WAS NOT, whereas some sort of additional explanation was going to have to be made to get Elrond on the scene.

KH

Elen silë lúmesse omentiemman

I meant she was already on the scene in the movie. I assume you mean she was not on the scene in the book. OK, you’re right. They changed it in the movie.

I’m sorry you didn’t have a good time.

Don’t misunderstand me, Salamander. I had an EXCELLENT time. It was my extreme pleasure to spend an evening with you and your friend. E also had an excellent time. She commented to me that the violence was extreme and “why did they have to make the Orcs so ugly?”, but generally enjoyed the film. I am an avid reader, and my track record with movies has been that if I have read the book, I generally don’t go to the movie because I usually end up being disappointed in one way or another. I guess I allowed my expectations to cloud my enjoyment of a well made movie. I will continue to maintain that PJ could have been true to the book and still had a picture that was every bit as marketable as what he did end up with. I also see a need for me to re-read the council of Elrod. I did not pick up on any confrontational projections from Elrod and need to reconcile my memory with the actual printed text. Interestingly enough, I was very concerned with the possible depictions of Elves and Dwarves. I was not dissapointed there….both races showed up on screen almost exactly as I imagined them. Did you notice that on the rim of Caradhas PJ did depict the fact that while the Company was sinking in the snow, Legolas walked lightly on top of it? If nothing else, I find that I will be picking up the story again in the very near future. I also hope that we will be able to arrange to “get together” again, as E and I truly enjoy your company.

KH

Elen silë lúmesse omentiemman