September 21, 2002

A New Detail With Every Viewing
Kbilly

Even after a dozen or so viewings of FOTR (a modest number among such vaunted fanatics) I'm still amazed each time a new, previously undeteced detail catches my eye. Of course, PJ delivered no end of intricately designed, scrumptious Middle-Earth eye-candy, but I have to ask if anyone else noticed a couple of fleeting items.

The portion of the opening sequence featuring the Last Alliance of elves and men was as thrilling an opening as I've ever witnessed. This has always been one of my favorite historical battles in LOTR, so I was esctatic to see that PJ used it to establish the origin of the ring. When the initial state of excitement and hysteria over finally seeing LOTR wore off enough for me to begin criticially observing smaller details in the film (after the 5th or 6th viewing), I strained my eyes for a glimpse of Gilgalad in this sequence- another favorite of mine, thanks to Sam's spontaneous recitation "Gilgalad was an elven king, of him the harpers sadly sing" under Weathertop. Eventually, I noticed a brief shot of an Elven warrior driving a mighty spear down with great satisfaction into an enemy at his feet- and immediately it clicked- Gilgalad's weapon of choice was a great spear (named maeglos or something? I'm too lazy to check). That was enough evidence to convince me, but I think my theory is confirmed in the credits, where I caught Gilgalad's name listed in the extended cast. Anyone else notice or concur?

A smaller detail, but very intriguing in my opinion, I just noticed during my last viewing. In the very last scene at the falls, when Aragorn tells Legolas and Gimli they are leaving the ringbearer to hunt some orc, I noticed that Aragorn has strapped on Borimir's leather gauntlets. I felt immensly dense for not noticing it earlier, and I'm very intrigued by this subtle gesture. I recognized them as Borimir's because of the symbols of the king detailed into them- the flowering tree and seven stars- clearly visible in earlier scenes. I thought it was very clever of PJ to add so subtle a symbol of Aragorn's transition from his early self-doubt to his soon-to-be unveiled persona as heir-to-the throne of Gondor and Captain of the West.

Anyone notice or mention these two little details before?