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Originally Posted by davem
Its that very impossibility to convey the inner battle - a central theme of the work - that doomed the whole thing to failure as an adaptation.
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Woah! Hold up. I cannot let this pass.
The LotR films are not just about the external struggle, although that is undoubtedly their major focus. But there are internal struggles going on too.
This is perhaps most apparent in Jackson’s theme of “the weakness of Men”: a different emphasis perhaps than Tolkien’s theme, but it is there nevertheless. And what is this weakness, but an inherent (and therefore internal) vulnerability to succumb to evil.
Take the temptations of Boromir and Faramir. They are not only struggling with the external evil of the Ring, but also with weaknesses within themselves. The Ring is playing on their internal desires. In Boromir’s case, this is (as in the book) his desire for the power to defend his land. In Faramir’s case (and this clearly is a change from the book), it is his desire to prove himself to his father. In both cases, the external influence of the Ring produces an inner conflict. (It is, in many ways, a shame that the film missed the opportunity to convey Denethor’s struggle with despair. The Denethor that we meet in the films is way past the struggling stage, and is portrayed as little more than an obstructive villain. However, it would have taken a significant amount of additional film time to develop this aspect of his character.)
Throughout the three films, Aragorn struggles with self-doubt, and this produces within him a reluctance to fulfil his destiny. This is an aspect of his character which is expanded from a small section in the book (the self-doubt following Gandalf’s fall) to form a major theme of the films. And it is not an external struggle with evil, as embodied in Sauron or the Ring, but an internal struggle, playing out within Aragorn himself, against an inherent weakness within him.
As for Frodo, well he is clearly struggling to resist giving into the Ring throughout the film trilogy. But is he fighting a desire within himself, or is he struggling with the external evil of the Ring? It’s difficult to tell, but then I think that the book is ambiguous on this. We never get to learn what it offers to Frodo in return for his submission to it. In the book, we learn more about the nature of the Ring, and the internal weaknesses which it preys upon, in its effect on other characters - but cannot this be said about the films also?
A final example of internal struggle may, I think, be seen in the character of Saruman. In this case we see the consequences of one who has lost his inner struggle. In the films, there is, in my view, sufficient in the dialogue between Gandalf and Saruman to suggest that he has succumbed to the evil within himself rather than any external force.
I make no comment (for now at least) on how well these struggles were depicted, either in comparison with their depiction in the book or as stand-alone themes. But I would dispute that they are not present at all.
Having said all that, I would agree that the films focus primarily on the external struggle with evil, as represented by Sauron and the Ring – and of course Saruman. That is a necessary consequence of their formulation as “action films”. As I said earlier, that is what they are first and foremost, rightly or wrongly.
In this sense, I don’t think that Jackson and his team “overlooked” the inner struggle with evil, or that they somehow failed to depict it. It is simply that this was not what they were trying to achieve. Should they have been, as adaptations of a book which is very much concerned with this theme? I don’t think so, necessarily. I see no sin in aiming to produce an enjoyable, spectacular, action-packed and intensely moving fantasy film based on the events, characters and some of the themes of the book. Some may say that Jackson failed even in that. Personally, I don’t think that he did at all.
I composed this post before I saw
Rimbaud's comment:
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Originally Posted by Rimbaud
Don’t misunderstand your humble correspondent, I would have enjoyed a thoughtful film more dependant on the internalised struggle as well, but it would have simply been an entirely different experience, and not the choice made either by the studio or the director. Not to harp on the same point, but the film made the choice to be what was considered to be the easier sell ...
Basically, some want cake, and they got it. Some wanted an altogether more difficult-to-bake sort of biscuit - and they have that too, it's just on the page, not the screen.
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For me, this is right on the mark - only I get to enjoy both the cake and the biscuit.
