Fellowship

With The Lord of the Rings, I have often thought about ways to remember the story, to order its parts in my mind. It is such a large, complex, sprawling narrative, and I'm a big sequential type of person (I like to remember the exact order), so it helps me to get the feeling of the whole work. I think the trailers for this movie do a tremendous job of telling you exactly what it is about. I also began to think about the key lines in the movie, and I realized that you could put together a pretty compelling synopsis with linking those together on a piece of paper. Because I think the heart of the story is straightforward. I know that you don't walk out of the theater having seen Fellowship and wonder what it was about. The details may not be all there, and you may asking why who did what. But you have a tremendous sense of what it was really about.

I thought the trailers did a great job of generating excitement and showing the action but not giving any false impressions of what the tone what would be. In terms of synopsis, one trailer had the very excellent summary: "Fate has chosen him. A fellowship will protect him. Evil will hunt them. This Christmas, the legend comes to life." I think that's terrific. It really carries both the thematic content and the emotional weight of what the movie is about. And it closed with Gandalf's stand before the Balrog, which was always my favorite scene from the book. VERY dramatic.

As I was saying, the key lines very adequately capture what is happening in those three hours (now 3.5 hrs with the extended edition release). Let me see if I can piece them together in a good order:

*"[Sauron] is coming for the ring." (Gandalf to Frodo)
*"The Nine have left Minas Morgul. They crossed the river Isen on Midsummer's Eve, dressed as riders in black. They will find the ring . ." (Saruman to Gandalf)
*"Are you frightened?" (Aragorn). Pausing in thought and coming to resolution, Frodo replies, "Yes." "Not nearly frightened enough, I know what hunts you."
*"I think there is more to this hobbit than meets the eye." (Gandalf about Frodo)
*"I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor . . Though, I do not know the way." (Frodo)
*"And I'm coming with you!" (Sam to Frodo, right at the end)
*"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the elves." (Elrond)
*"The ring must be destroyed!" (Gandalf)
*"I can't do this." (Frodo) "This task was appointed to you, and if you do not find a way, no one will." (Galadriel)
*"I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had ever happened." (Frodo) "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." (Gandalf)
*"I know what I have to do. It's just . . I'm scared to do it." (Frodo)
*"Men are leaderless, a divided people." (Elrond). "There is one who can unite them." (Gandalf about Aragorn)
*"You are Isildur's heir, not Isildur himself." (Arwen) "The same blood flows in my veins, same weakness." (Aragorn) "You will face the same evil, and you will defeat it."
*"The Quest stands but on the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fall to the ruin of all . . But hope remains while the company is true." (Galadriel to the fellowship)
*"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." (Galadriel to Frodo)
*". . Which means that you were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought. Frodo, there's more at work in this world that the will of evil." (Gandalf)
*"You will find your courage." (Galadriel to Frodo)
*"Mordor. I hope the others find a safer road." (Frodo) "Strider will look after 'em." (Sam) "I don't suppose we'll ever see them again." (F) "We may yet, Mr. Frodo. We may." (S) "Sam, I'm glad you're with me."
*"It has all been in vain. The fellowship has failed." (Gimli) "Not if we hold true to each other." (Aragorn)

I think that's pretty neat that you can do that; it reflects a good movie that makes sense. Well, the story is much more than just the one movie, so I'll share some thoughts about The Two Towers and The Return of the King at another time. I'm always fond of talking about Fellowship; it has an uniqueness to it that for me eclipses even the other two.

I think the things in it that I have never seen before are 1) the tenacity with which the fellowship holds together 2) the intensity of the power of evil in their pursuit of the ring 3) the incredible symbolic and unifying power of the ring 4) the move from darkness to light, darkness to light 5) the capturing on film of the entire world 6) the explanatory dialogue 7) the emotional rise and falls 8) Gandalf

Quite a world!