[Lily Bracegirdle]

Great post, Mister Underhill!<P>You're right: the slow mo "fellowship reunites around Frodo's bed" was pleasant, but a quicker scene followed by a bit of dialogue would have been nicer.<P>On the director/writers' commentary of the FOTR EE they mentioned that Galadriel would be "bookending" the trilogy with voice-overs. I was hoping to hear her wrap up what happened after the coronation with little cut scenes, leading into the scene at the Grey Havens. I think that would have worked to keep the story flowing. Your idea of having Sam do it, as the last author of the Red Book, is also good.<P>I also agree that Frodo's sailing away seemed arbitrary because he didn't appear changed/wounded enough. I think the scenes at the end of the movie must have been filmed near the beginning of the shoot when the Hobbiton and Green Dragon sets still existed and all the cast members were together. (Remember that Ian Holm only spent six weeks or so on the project, so scenes with him in them must have been shot early on.) I don't think Elijah Wood knew at that point how badly wounded his character was going to be emotionally and spiritually, so the scenes weren't played that way. After the sets were destroyed, PJ couldn't have gone back and refilmed them, so Frodo was stuck looking young and fresh with maybe a twinge in his shoulder. I think it would have been emotionally more effective to have re-shot those scenes in pick-ups once Elijah Wood understood more what happened to Frodo (and aged three years). The cost of rebuilding the sets probably forbade it, though. You could blame PJ for bad initial direction, but he was probably still feeling out the story and learning at that point as well, so I can't really hold it against him.<P>Another thing about sailing away that I think confused non-book readers was Bilbo's presence. In the movies it seems that a mortal can sail only if an elf gives up his/her "grace" -- as if it's some sort of invisible ticket. Some people were wondering which elf gave up his "ticket" so Bilbo could go. Elrond? I hope the reasons for "sailing" are made more clear in the EE.<P>-Lily<p>[ 1:43 PM December 31, 2003: Message edited by: Lily Bracegirdle ]