February 8, 2003

Movie V. Film, Or, Skate Boards V. Depth
Judy Ann

I'd like to offer some thoughts I've not seen regrading departures from the book in TTT. I agree that the movie must make adapatations. After initial disgruntlement over FOTR, I am more captivated every time I see the extended version. (Except, please do something about Boromir's great death scene that's diminished by his gloved hand seen/not seen on Aragorn's shoulder.) While TTT, the movie, greatly succeeded in its portrayal of Gollum/Smeagol, Eowyn & Aragorn, the battle scenes, and the wonderful revenge of the Ents (my new favorite scene!), it missed out on being a film of classic status and I'll tell you three ways it lost out.

(1) Stunts like Legolas skate boarding down Helm's Deep are jarring due to its specific reference to our present day popular culture. It's as if he had put on a hoola hoop while waiting for Gimli on the plains of Rohan. A classic movie is one that does not defer to what is popularly considered pop culture. Can you imagine Vivien Leigh using 1930's slang as Scarlett in Gone with the Wind to engage the teenagers in the audience--"Gee, that's swell, Ashley"? Dwarf tossing is included. This funny, cool stuff is either personal indulgence or a caving in to someone's desire for teen $$$.

(2) The hurried/pressured editing also robs us of many moments that could have entered us more deeply. It's like bad --just when a visual-emotional G spot is touched, there's an abrupt rushing on to something else.

(3) More than all this, however, is the repetitive two-dimensional nature of everyone's reactions throughout the movie to the ring itself--corruption or rejection after a struggle with desire. Through Faramir of the book we see someone who had already deeply struggled with the dark side of power and come to terms with it. This shows us a different side of dealing with evil--it's possible to see past it and desire the peace on the other side. Faramir of the book emerged incorruptible from his pre-ring struggle and was able to provide the last refuge of sanity for Frodo & Sam both as sanctuary of place and as trusting companionship. This makes it much more poignant when Frodo decides to leave Ithilien to continue to Mount Doom. Faramir's character also elevates him to classic tragic hero when Denethor later sends him back to near-certain death in ROTK. This is tension of greater depth that even a 12 year-old can grasp.

The TTT could have contributed in a dramatic and more moving way to what the world now needs most--to know that the struggle against evil is one where we must take up the "Ring," make the journey to our own Mount Doom, alone & collectively, and that there is more than way to handle it.

This is not accomplished with an approach that communicates the fear of us leaving the theatre because our minds and attention spans have been engaged. And it's for sure not with a skate board.