[radagastly]

So we finally set out on the adventure. We have even more exposition, how to tell if this is, indeed, the One Ring, the shot of Mordor over the mountains as Gandalf approaches Minas Tirith with Mount Doom erupting, showing that Sauron has risen again, etc. But eventually, Frodo actually leaves Bag End. This exposition is done in a more filmic way, however. It cuts from scene to scene more rapidly than the prologue or the Party, it sends Gandalf to Minas Tirith and back, it shows the dialogue in the Green Dragon of the hobbits discussing the troubles in the world, just rumors at this point in the story. This shifting begins the building of tension, which will continue to build through-out the film. The overall tone is back to serious, but not in the mythic sense that we see in the prologue. It's more like it has come home. We see a more serious Shire, and more thoughtful hobbits, as the discussion between the Gaffer and Ted Sandyman illustrates. (I assume it's Ted Sandyman, as it was in the book.) I always wondered about Sam's feelings in this scene. If I was in a bar with my friends, checking out pretty women, I'm not sure I'd want my father sitting across the table from me.

Ian McKellan seems take the brunt of the dialogue in the 'Shadow of the Past' scene, to build even more tension. Elijah keeps up, which is a tribute in itself, but the bulk of the performance belongs to Gandalf, Fitting, since he has the most information, and must impart it to Frodo. The urgency works on film, though the passage of time doesn't really come through. I get the impression that Gandalf was only gone a few days or weeks, hardly enough time to track down Gollum and interrogate him. I think I would have liked a shot of Gandalf being told that Gollum had been captured, perhaps an elf visiting him in the library in Minas Tirith, and then rushing off to Mirkwood to see him. The way it is, I get no sense that Gandalf was gone long enough to ever meet Gollum, much less find out he was once in Mordor giving up secrets. It just seems there is a little too much story that has been left for the audience to piece together.

And then we set out. In a rush, in the middle of the night, or the early hours just before dawn. At least, it seems to be getting light in the forest where Gandalf mounts his horse and departs from them, giving one last warning to Frodo before he goes and re-establishing the Ring as a character, not just an object. "It wants to be found!" and then he's off. The two hobbits are on their own.

There is a better sense of time as they hike through the Shire, the woods, the fields, the little rivers, until we come to the first "Wizard of Oz" image, the first of many. It must be one of Jackson's favorite films. Frodo and Sam stop in a corn field with a scarecrow that has crows sitting on it. For Dorothy and Toto, it was a crossroads, where she must make her first decision. For Sam, it's a crossroads of another kind. If he takes one more step, it'll be the farthest from home he's ever been. If I recall correctly from the book, he has these thoughts on the Buckleberry Ferry, as it slips away from the bank of the Brandywine river. It's a bit of a premonition. He must move forward to the big adventure, or turn back. He seems to know that big things lie ahead, if he continues. And so, with gentle encouragement from Frodo, he moves ahead.