[Lyta_Underhill]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Someone needs to tell Mr. Jackson that he needs to have the eyes close when people die or get posioned, because if not it looks like there still alive (or frozen). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Actually, I think having his eyes open was a very good touch. The combination of this and the unearthly-white face really bring home the idea in the viewers' minds and Sam's mind that Frodo is not just poisoned, but looks DEAD. It was a good cinematic device. The staring eyes are much more disturbing and final to my mind. (I'm kind of glad they didn't add the "sickly green" shade that Frodo proceeds to turn as Sam watches...)<P>I didn't much care for Frodo telling Sam to go home, but that didn't bother me as much as the fact the Sam went! (Oh yes, Mr. Frodo tells me to go so I'll go, even though I know he is accompanied by a villain who I KNOW means to murder him...) I don't think so! I thought that was a little TOO obvious as a device for conflict. The dynamic between the three (Gollum, Frodo, Sam) works pretty well the way PJ set it up, though, even though it is not in line with Tolkien's original.<P>As for Frodo's "young look" after the War of the Ring, I thought it was unnaturally youthful. He looked as young as he had in the Shire of the pre-quest days. I wondered at that time whether they had meant for him to partially transform to a more pure "elvish" look. Maybe it was part of his own 'fading?'. I had expected more wear and tear on Frodo's visage, and I was rather surprised at how decrepit Bilbo had become, even in the short time we had not seen him! <P>But all the previous commentary of mine above says nothing about Elijah Wood's own performance, really. More a commentary on how Frodo's character and physical development was handled. I must say that much of my opinion rests on the peculiar inflection I hear during the "Naked in the Dark" speech. There is something extra in his voice at that point that separates him completely, as if he is so far from Samwise and the waking world that he is having trouble even describing it. I find that, no matter what mangling of Frodo's character has gone before, the Mordor experience wipes him clean; it becomes a struggle beyond hope, a naked duel of sorts, and for me, a twist of inflection in Elijah's voice brings this home. All else falls away, and somehow, I can actually get inside the once inaccessible realm of Frodo in Mordor that is eternally seen by the reader from Sam's point of view. <I>Seeing</I> Frodo articulating in this way gives me a window into his soul that I think I only saw before through a reader's perception of Sam's thoughts. Either that, or I understand and identify with Sam a little better now, and that window is all that can be seen and should not be opened further, for there are still matters to be settled. "Let's be done with it then." Sam says simply, and gathers the strength that has become hardened within him. This moment is priceless, powerful and shows the great acting prowess of both Elijah and Sean.<P>I'm sure there's more to be said, but thanks for listening to my observations! <P>Cheers,<BR>Lyta