April 20, 2004

Re: V: Valinor
Eonwe

I agree with Elendur about not really liking the shots of the ship leaving the Grey Havens in the movie. For me, it's more that the visuals didn't fit the mood. The Grey Havens are supposed to be grey! Grey and misty and somber and very Elvish. The bright setting sun and tiny enclosed harbor with no shoreline didn't really do it for me. All the imagery is totally different in the book.

"the ship slipped away down the long grey firth"
"the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven"
"as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was soon lost to the West."
"There still he stood far into the night, hearing only the sigh and murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and the sound of them sank deep into his heart."

Where the ship was going also wasn't very clear, but there was Gandalf's great speech to Pippin in Minas Tirith about death not being the end, which was lifted word for word from the description of Frodo first seeing Aman. So I give the filmmakers a break on that point.

Eonwe