Fellowship of the Ring & Two Towers
A few weeks ago, I was able to see part of Fellowship of the Ring again on the big screen. Regal Cinemas had a $1 running of several classics and I caught the tail end of the movie (tail end being 1 hr 15 mins since the movie is so long!) on the last showing of the three-day event. Fellowship has been my favorite movie since I first saw it in December 2001. I saw it on a weeknight evening in Memphis. There was nothing fancy externally, just me and a co-worker and a moderate number of other viewers. It felt like it had been a long, sweet time coming. The books had thrilled me since I was a child. That night was an evening that I savor, my heart was delighted with what I saw.
In the recent viewing, I was impressed again at how powerful this story is as well as the quality of the filmmaking. My viewing this time sent me into the additional features of the Two Towers DVD. There I found again the incredible delight of that story as well. I got a desire to try to sum up in a short way what excels about those two films, which is what I will try to do here. I have posted several times in the past (see March (?) of last year), and it left me wanting to sum it up a little more and take it a little deeper into my personal enjoyment of it.
As I think about Fellowship, the words that stand out in my mind are quality, beauty, and sticking with each other. The first two being attributes of it and the third being the major stand-out theme that emerges. The quality of the movie is above and beyond what I have ever seen. I was so engaged with the story, by the writing of the dialogue, by the incredible action, by the acting, the design of the places, and the costumes, and by its narrative flow. In terms of beauty, everything is so marvelously executed, and those treasured words of Tolkien are finally experienced visually. For me, words and characters and situations from the books that had been so priceless becoming a tangible reality was an exhilirating delight. I can't describe it. The story had so profoundly intersected with my life going back for years, and to see a realized vision of that story made it a profoundly memorable event. The last several scenes of Fellowship tie it all together in such an inspirational way. They are: the generous farewell of Aragorn to Frodo at the top of the hill, releasing him to fufill his quest; the dramatic fight of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir with the orcs; the profound, haunting emotion of the farewell of Aragorn to Boromir; the scene on the beach with Frodo making the decision to take the ring; the flubbering of Sam as he attempts to get to Frodo's boat; their heartwarming embrace; Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli's ecstatic jubilation to follow after the orcs; and the sensitive scene of Sam and Frodo as Frodo sets off in the direction of his doom. I flood with emotions at those scenes. That theme of fellowship is a moving message carrying the last stage of that film.
Part of the joy of The Two Towers is the hidden story behind the film. What I love so much about the filmmaking in film two was all the incredible decisions that eventually got the difficult-to-make film into what it became. What sounds so cliche now but is so true, that the filmmakers made an incredible journey to get there. It was truly a saving of what could have been much less significant. People don't all know about the ways that film could have been insufficiently realized. It took a number of brilliant choices, a leap over obstacles, and a mighty struggle and effort to find the story that made it what it is.
Something so profoundly memorable in film two is Gollum. The process of realizing his character is so incredible. On this last viewing, I was able to figure out the unique way they did the animation. There was always this tension between a system called motion capture where you can capture (duh) in the computer data that reflects live movement of actors in a studio and animation where a computer artist creates the movement. On the one, you have real movement but insufficient data to create the nuanced facial movements, for example, and the emotional depth. On the other, you have the loss of the performance of a real person that creates genuine movement.
The final choices evolved as the various methods were investigated and attempted. The real culmination was like this. The actor playing Gollum would actually be in the scenes acting with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. Then animators would then animate motion in the computers, following his actions. So you have this very physical actor acting it out, and then animators simulating the very same movements in the computer, with Gollum instead of the actor. The end result is pretty fabulous. Gollum is a memorable movie character; it is eery how much he gets in your head. The Helm's Deep scene is an amazing battle sequence. And what I love about Two Towers is where they take the emotional content, this time through a speech by Sam. If you remember, Sam gives a speech to Frodo near the end about the "great stories", how the people in those stories "had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't." It is a speech given as the various action elements (the ents' destruction of the wizard Saruman's fortress, the Helm's Deep climax, and Frodo and Sam's locale) are shown. What it does so well is tell the reader exactly what it is for. The viewer has been sitting there for close to 3 hours, and you don't do that just for entertainment. There is something more hungered for. And what Sam is saying is telling you exactly why you are in it yourself. Sam says that they should go on because there is something good worth fighting for, and it has to be redeemed. It has to be sacrificed for to be realized. You think about it and realize, "Yes, this is telling me about me, and my part in the real story that is going on." In my own life, in my own situation, I have to continue if I want to see the ultimate purpose for which I am here realized. If you listen to the commentary of the writers, you learn that they entered into this very spot and had to ask, "Why? What is this all about?" Their efforts succeeded and the execution came in. In that well-put-together moment, the story hits its top height and maybe becomes . . something more. It is really wonderful to hear the great stories like LOTR, inspiring you to attempt so much more in your own life.
The value in Return of the King I haven't explored so much recently, but it does have some interesting things to share about letting go in terms of death and the loss of loved ones. All that's for another post!
I do love to share about these things. My heart feels so differently about them, and it is always a desire to attempt to communicate these ponderings and make them known and see if there is any connection in other people's hearts. Part of what we are all attempting to do in our time on this earth. If there is anything in you responding to this, please feel free to respond to davidfkendall@yahoo.com with your thoughts.
In the recent viewing, I was impressed again at how powerful this story is as well as the quality of the filmmaking. My viewing this time sent me into the additional features of the Two Towers DVD. There I found again the incredible delight of that story as well. I got a desire to try to sum up in a short way what excels about those two films, which is what I will try to do here. I have posted several times in the past (see March (?) of last year), and it left me wanting to sum it up a little more and take it a little deeper into my personal enjoyment of it.
As I think about Fellowship, the words that stand out in my mind are quality, beauty, and sticking with each other. The first two being attributes of it and the third being the major stand-out theme that emerges. The quality of the movie is above and beyond what I have ever seen. I was so engaged with the story, by the writing of the dialogue, by the incredible action, by the acting, the design of the places, and the costumes, and by its narrative flow. In terms of beauty, everything is so marvelously executed, and those treasured words of Tolkien are finally experienced visually. For me, words and characters and situations from the books that had been so priceless becoming a tangible reality was an exhilirating delight. I can't describe it. The story had so profoundly intersected with my life going back for years, and to see a realized vision of that story made it a profoundly memorable event. The last several scenes of Fellowship tie it all together in such an inspirational way. They are: the generous farewell of Aragorn to Frodo at the top of the hill, releasing him to fufill his quest; the dramatic fight of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir with the orcs; the profound, haunting emotion of the farewell of Aragorn to Boromir; the scene on the beach with Frodo making the decision to take the ring; the flubbering of Sam as he attempts to get to Frodo's boat; their heartwarming embrace; Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli's ecstatic jubilation to follow after the orcs; and the sensitive scene of Sam and Frodo as Frodo sets off in the direction of his doom. I flood with emotions at those scenes. That theme of fellowship is a moving message carrying the last stage of that film.
Part of the joy of The Two Towers is the hidden story behind the film. What I love so much about the filmmaking in film two was all the incredible decisions that eventually got the difficult-to-make film into what it became. What sounds so cliche now but is so true, that the filmmakers made an incredible journey to get there. It was truly a saving of what could have been much less significant. People don't all know about the ways that film could have been insufficiently realized. It took a number of brilliant choices, a leap over obstacles, and a mighty struggle and effort to find the story that made it what it is.
Something so profoundly memorable in film two is Gollum. The process of realizing his character is so incredible. On this last viewing, I was able to figure out the unique way they did the animation. There was always this tension between a system called motion capture where you can capture (duh) in the computer data that reflects live movement of actors in a studio and animation where a computer artist creates the movement. On the one, you have real movement but insufficient data to create the nuanced facial movements, for example, and the emotional depth. On the other, you have the loss of the performance of a real person that creates genuine movement.
The final choices evolved as the various methods were investigated and attempted. The real culmination was like this. The actor playing Gollum would actually be in the scenes acting with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. Then animators would then animate motion in the computers, following his actions. So you have this very physical actor acting it out, and then animators simulating the very same movements in the computer, with Gollum instead of the actor. The end result is pretty fabulous. Gollum is a memorable movie character; it is eery how much he gets in your head. The Helm's Deep scene is an amazing battle sequence. And what I love about Two Towers is where they take the emotional content, this time through a speech by Sam. If you remember, Sam gives a speech to Frodo near the end about the "great stories", how the people in those stories "had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't." It is a speech given as the various action elements (the ents' destruction of the wizard Saruman's fortress, the Helm's Deep climax, and Frodo and Sam's locale) are shown. What it does so well is tell the reader exactly what it is for. The viewer has been sitting there for close to 3 hours, and you don't do that just for entertainment. There is something more hungered for. And what Sam is saying is telling you exactly why you are in it yourself. Sam says that they should go on because there is something good worth fighting for, and it has to be redeemed. It has to be sacrificed for to be realized. You think about it and realize, "Yes, this is telling me about me, and my part in the real story that is going on." In my own life, in my own situation, I have to continue if I want to see the ultimate purpose for which I am here realized. If you listen to the commentary of the writers, you learn that they entered into this very spot and had to ask, "Why? What is this all about?" Their efforts succeeded and the execution came in. In that well-put-together moment, the story hits its top height and maybe becomes . . something more. It is really wonderful to hear the great stories like LOTR, inspiring you to attempt so much more in your own life.
The value in Return of the King I haven't explored so much recently, but it does have some interesting things to share about letting go in terms of death and the loss of loved ones. All that's for another post!
I do love to share about these things. My heart feels so differently about them, and it is always a desire to attempt to communicate these ponderings and make them known and see if there is any connection in other people's hearts. Part of what we are all attempting to do in our time on this earth. If there is anything in you responding to this, please feel free to respond to davidfkendall@yahoo.com with your thoughts.
Labels: Lord of the Rings, Movies
posted by David at 11:54 AM
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