THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *good*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, psychological, sociological*

I won't waste time effusing about the many virtues of Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS film trilogy. Once all three parts had been unveiled to the public, Jackson's opus became something of an "instant classic," in contradistinction to the vastly inferior HOBBIT trilogy, which I've reviewed here but about which I have little more to say. Since I have now devoted blogposts to each book in Tolkien's trilogy, though, I will go over some of the ways in which each film departs from or plays into its source novel, starting inevitably with FELLOWSHIP. (I plan to review only the extended editions.)

Many of the changes are entirely logical when translating a prose work into a medium that is entirely time-dependent. Thus it's no surprise that Frodo, as played by Elijah Wood, does not take months and months to depart the Shire on his mission to take the One Ring to Rivendell, nor does the Fellowship remain at Rivendell for yet more months, as if waiting to make sure that the heroes depart on their quest in the dead of winter. Movie-Frodo does not sing funny songs at the Prancing Pony and then horrify the spectators with his invisibility act. Yet even though that scene played into what Tolkien was saying about the insidious nature of the Ring's power, the loss of the scene does not undercut the moral message common to both novel and film.

In some cases, Jackson and his collaborators made some interesting substitutions. In the book, Gandalf's confrontation with Saruman is meant to emphasize the soulless "scientism" of the corrupted wizard, but Jackson's scene between respective actors Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee, only emphasizes Saruman's determination to seek temporal power. However, Tolkien only alludes to the foul methods Saruman uses to bring his mutant Uruk-Hai into being, while Jackson is perfectly free to "get his Frankenstein on," so to speak. (As a side-note, I believe this might be the only time that Lee, who began his career as a horror-star playing a version of Shelley's Monster, essays a role like that of the Monster's creator.) Arguably these scenes add more conviction to the possibility that Saruman might somehow eclipse the power of Sauron, whereas in the book Saruman usually comes off as "Sauron Lite."

Though there are probably differences in details, Jackson entirely fulfills the sense of how the fractious clans of Middle-Earth have allowed the power of Mordor to grow. If anything, the playful rivalry of Legolas and Gimli is better than in the book, as are a number of scenes that the actors make their own, particularly McKellen "I am not trying to rob you" moment, which remains merely functional in the prose work. Tolkien did work moments of comic business in for Frodo's Hobbit friends Sam, Merry and Pippin, as well as for Gimli. I think both the movie-script and the actors build impressively on the humor. This allows the serious players of the Fellowship, particularly Frodo, to seem more fraught by impending doom. Sean Bean's Boromir, who does not survive this installment of the story, illustrates the poisonous allure of the Ring nearly as well as does the nearly absent Gollum, who gets his chance to shine in the next two sections.

In my book review I noted that two regal feminine figures bookended the novel. One, the near ageless Galadriel, is well essayed by Cate Blanchett, who remains letter perfect to the role. Excised from the film are both Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, whose presence would have simply slowed the film. But Jackson and company manage to build up the relatively simple book-character of Arwen, so that her incarnation by Liv Tyler becomes FELLOWSHIP's other major female figure. In contrast to the many politically correct films that have shoehorned female characters into adaptations to ill effect, Arwen's inclusion seems natural and unforced, and this increases the resonance of her relationship with Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), whereas the book-version of the romance is rather thin.

Lastly, whereas Tolkien mastered many talents as a writer, he was only middling in terms of choreographing battle-scenes. Jackson's crew provided some excellent fights in FELLOWSHIP, but the best was yet to come.