The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - **RotK

doug*platypus · 12-21-2003, 04:08 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I just have to laugh at you guys. If its not Faramir its Denethor. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Right, well thanks for that insightful post then. Well worth the space it takes up. John Noble is a far better actor than I had realised. I would definitely pay the admission to go and see him in any similar dramatic role, maybe some Shakespeare, he'd be great! While I really don't appreciate the dumbing-down of Denethor from the book, I think that the new character of movieDenethor worked very well. He is much more one-dimensional than in the book, but I actually did believe in the role he had to play. Faramir in my opinion is a much weaker character, not helped along at all by Wenham's sub-par performance. John Noble and Karl Urban made the most out of what malnourishing fare the scriptwriters fed them, but Wenham just seemed to take a dive. I'm sure I would have done the same thing after seeing the changes (for the worse) that had been made, and so I really applaud Noble and Urban for the jobs they did.I'm much more disappointed with the Men of Gondor than with the Steward. Pippin has to risk life and limb climbing up to the beacon, because the guards would never let a Knight of the Citadel with orders from Lord Mithrandir through to help them win the war. But quite naturally they'll just stand there gawping while Gandalf beats the ##$# out of the man that has been their ruler for the past forty years or whatever.The eating scene was very well done, and a superb (and clever) way to show the horrible indifference of the man to the death of his son and his soldiers. It reminded me of a line from Pink Floyd:and the Generals gave thanks as the other ranks held back the enemy tanks for a whileand fitted in well with the image of the ruler up in his tower, callously maneuvering his pawns. This had precedent in the book, too, when Denethor points out that both he and Sauron choose to use others to do their dirty work. Noble's delivery of the "yes, I do wish that" line was a phenomenal piece of acting. It would have been very easy to make that line cheesy and unbelievable. Chances are he didn't need 28 takes to get it right, unlike every time Viggo has a line.

12-21-2003, 04:08 PM	#31
doug*platypus Delver in the Deep Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Aotearoa Posts: 960	<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I just have to laugh at you guys. If its not Faramir its Denethor. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Right, well thanks for that insightful post then. Well worth the space it takes up. <P>John Noble is a far better actor than I had realised. I would definitely pay the admission to go and see him in any similar dramatic role, maybe some Shakespeare, he'd be great! <P>While I really don't appreciate the dumbing-down of Denethor from the book, I think that the new character of movieDenethor worked very well. He is much more one-dimensional than in the book, but I actually did believe in the role he had to play. Faramir in my opinion is a much weaker character, not helped along at all by Wenham's sub-par performance. John Noble and Karl Urban made the most out of what malnourishing fare the scriptwriters fed them, but Wenham just seemed to take a dive. I'm sure I would have done the same thing after seeing the changes (for the worse) that had been made, and so I really applaud Noble and Urban for the jobs they did.<P>I'm much more disappointed with the Men of Gondor than with the Steward. Pippin has to risk life and limb climbing up to the beacon, because the guards would never let a Knight of the Citadel with orders from Lord Mithrandir through to help them win the war. But quite naturally they'll just stand there gawping while Gandalf beats the ##$# out of the man that has been their ruler for the past forty years or whatever.<P>The eating scene was very well done, and a superb (and clever) way to show the horrible indifference of the man to the death of his son and his soldiers. It reminded me of a line from Pink Floyd:<P><I>and the Generals gave thanks</I><BR><I>as the other ranks</I><BR><I>held back the enemy tanks</I><BR><I>for a while</I><P>and fitted in well with the image of the ruler up in his tower, callously maneuvering his pawns. This had precedent in the book, too, when Denethor points out that both he and Sauron choose to use others to do their dirty work. Noble's delivery of the "yes, I do wish that" line was a phenomenal piece of acting. It would have been very easy to make that line cheesy and unbelievable. Chances are he didn't need 28 takes to get it right, unlike every time Viggo has a line. __________________ But Gwindor answered: 'The doom lies in yourself, not in your name'.