[Darby]

I was going to post this over in the which Faramir is Best thread, but then it occured to me that maybe this is a better place.<BR>So, my opinion on the whole Faramir thing...<BR>I had such a crush on book Faramir when I was a teenager. I analyzed him to bits. He was supposed to have Christ-like qualities in being able to resist the lure of the Ring, but with the human touch of a very adolescent conflict with his father ("Well, FINE, I'll go and get myself killed if that's what you want!" paraphrasing, of course. ) And a sharp not-quite-nice sense of humour, too, when he's teasing the hobbits! And some Robin Hoodish like traits when he's leading his band of men on little raids around Osgiliath and harassing the orcs, then retreating to an ultra secret hide-out behind the waterfall (which requires the hobbits be blindfolded to approach it).<BR>And then there's the problem with David Wenhem's decidedly un-raven locks.<BR>I know this scene sure won't be playing out like in the books...<BR>"And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and gold, streamed out mingling in the air."<BR>So, it's book Faramir for me.<P>But, the Nazgul-almost-snatches-ring thing almost works for me in the movie context. After that incident is reported, Sauron will be <i>sure</i> that the ring is in the Golden City. He'll have a report of it on the way there, and Faramir just letting them go would be just as incomprehensible to Sauron as it seems to be to some of the folks here. <BR>BTW - I agree about the leap of faith thing being a possible explanation, which isn't book-Faramir, but maybe is movie-Faramir. Movie-Aragorn seems to do a similar thing when he "lets" Frodo go at the end of the Fellowship. Book-Aragorn would never have let Frodo go wandering off to Mordor by himself (because he was not intending to take Sam at that time).<BR>I love that scene, for what it's worth. (Especially when he's kneeling and holding Frodo's hand and looking at him with those gorgeous eyes... ooops, excuse me while I have a brief fangirl moment.) But it's definitely not canon.<BR>I imagine once I get my copy of TTT in August, and watch it with the kids, then I'll eventually get used to David Wenhem's Faramir. It was just a shock initially, since I'd had such a clear idea of who Faramir was before seeing the movie.