November 30, 2002

Re: Scouring of the Shire
Jimeous

It just doesn't fit...

Now think about it, for two books, roughly 22 chapters we hear nothing but a direction of the Ring Quest. What should be the pivotal moment of the whole story with Frodo is relegated to be finished a third way into the final Act.

Theres no impetus or resolution with Tolkien's structure based on the Ring Quest. The events that follow after Mt Doom are unsuitable for the title. Theres no more Sauron to drive direction of the story, theres no more Ring to add motivation to the substance.

In every way the Scouring detracts from the initial drive and structure by now refocusing on after events and so the adventure becomes disjointed into a training ground.
Now the Scouring is a wonderfully written sequence and would look awesome in a movie, but its very position would detract from any directional objective the films have set.

We've seen already the Star Was "trilogy" of Episodes IV - VI, well most of us have :p. In its basic direction, it is a story of a fight against the Empire. Now imagine if in Return of a Jedi, that objective is finished with 2/3rds of the movie to go. For this we add a story of how C3PO and R2D2 have developed and learned through the adventure so we watch a long sequence involving them. Perhaps ending with Leia giving her cryogenics chamber to C3P0 :p Sounds stupid right? Well that is Tolkien's structure within Return of the King.

Add to this, the visuals, we're going to leave a full scale war in the Fields of Peleanor, to what will be in comparison, a skirmish in the Shire. Now based on the position the Scouring is within the narrrative it should be the most epic of battles right? Errrrr somehow I don't think its going to work that way :p

One thing which is very clear, Tolkien at no time attempts to write a screenplay, and it does show in the first movie. Lothlorien would never exist in an ideal screenplay, neither would Gimli or Legolas, as they play no direct interaction with Frodo and the Ring. The pacing itself is awful in the book [FoTR] as is the inclusion of a multitude of characters which really serve little of no purpose to the Ring's Directive. BUT as a book, it is PERFECT. Full and rich with detail.
Movies rely on pacing more than anything else, where the atmosphere is built up along the way. The enviroments become more interesting or dangerous whichever may be the case. The action becomes more dynamic and solutions near to conclusion. The last third of any movie is built on resolving the questioned structured in the first third and developed in the second.

The Scouring just does not fit a movie formula and would degrade the integrity of the third movie if not handled correctly. I really don't know how they are going to do RoTK, because at the moment, within Tolkien's structure it just isn't going to work.