[Mithalwen]

I also feel that Boromir came through the film strongly - I had always slightly dismissed him, having read the LOTR at a sufficiently young age perhaps not to fully appreciate the complexities of his situation and his importance to the plot. In fact on seeing the films, I though PJ might have actually have made him more sympathetic but now haveing gone back to the books I think it was a true portrayal, perhaps truer than any other main characters. Perhaps he was fortunate that his character was so pivotal to the main plotline. Perhaps because of the wise move of recruiting John Howe and Alan Lee, visually most of Middle Earth looked right and so I accepted the bits I hadn't visualised fully (the exception being Loth Lorien) and the bits I had were brought into clearer focus. I also think Rohan was a winner - in the booksit and its people seemed to play second fiddle in so many respects to Gondor .... the films gave them a dignity that I hadn't fully appreciated although it does exist in the books.

Oh and like so many others the films sent me back to the books which had been largely neglected for nigh on a decade. As a teenager I had all the Tolkien I could lay my hands on and collected the first four volume of HoME as they were issued in paper back. Then at A Level you got the impression that a passion for Tolkien was not something to be broadcast and by the time I started my BA in Lit, I was firmly in the closet. At first I didn't want to see the films because I didn't thinkI could bear it ... then I saw the trailer and I was lost ... I don't know if it was a factor that I was one of those people who used Middle Earth as an escape from a miserable adolescence and the films came out at a time I once again needed a refuge from my day to day world.