Anduril and Other Matters
Brett C.

Here in Australia the movie has only just opened,and I saw it twice yesterday with my wife and some friends.

I would have to say I 'enjoyed' it more the 2nd time, because of course the 1st time around I was analysing it heavily. But of course I've read the books for the pst 22 years, so I can't stop msyelf weighing into the debate.

The things I was most puzzled by relate to Aragorn, i.e. where is Anduril? PJ has obviously made a real effort to preserve the vital elements of Tolkien's work, yet this item, almost as important to the epic as the ring itself, appears only briefly in Rivendell. And it looked so good, and such effort was made to show its enduring power, I was a bit nonplussed when I realized Aragorn was carrying only his 'travelling sword'when they set out as the Fellowhip.

Actually the whole bit of Aragorn being the heir of Isildur is problematic in terms of the necessary streamlining for a movie script. In terms of the movie I was left wondering how he could be, after 3000 years. Of course having read the books I know, but the film leaves it very misty.

I cannot end, though, without giving real praise to PJ and Sean Bean for Boromir. I have never seen him rendered so sympathetically. I was so moved by Bean's performance in Lorien and at the breaking of the Fellowship. Well done.