Will The Hobbit do damage to the books?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Would it really have been too much to ask, or to expect, that when somebody finally made a serious attempt to film Tolkien the goal would have been cinema that fell into the category which might be roughly defined as "cerebral epic" or "big-budget art film," a category which would include, say, 2001, Apocalypse Now and Ran?

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Would it really have been too much to ask, or to expect, that when somebody finally made a serious attempt to film Tolkien the goal would have been cinema that fell into the category which might be roughly defined as "cerebral epic" or "big-budget art film," a category which would include, say, 2001, Apocalypse Now and Ran?

Your query resonates with me. It would require the right kind of director. I just can't imagine those who do art film being interested in LotR.

[Mithalwen]

How about Ang Lee?

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

How about Ang Lee?

Want to ask him if he'll do it in about twenty years? Or will he be dead by then?

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

How about Ang Lee?

How about Spike Lee? I can see it now:

The Lord of the Rings: Do the Wight Thing

[FerniesApple]

will the Hobbit movies do damage to the books? yep I think they will. All this cheap merchandising, lacklustre publicity, cash grabbing worthless EE versions, the garbage coming from Jackson and Boyens as regards the appendices, 'female energy' clap trap coming from E. Lilly, the actual movies themselves, that abysmal travesty, it all adds up to a pile of steaming poo.

Pity the poor fool who first watches those films and then buys the book thinking its about a Dwarve called Thorin and his dreary quest to reclaim his homeland. Why on earth did Tolkien call it the Hobbit? I hear him/her ask. Theres hardly any Hobbit in the movies.

[Belegorn]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

How about Spike Lee? I can see it now:

The Lord of the Rings: Do the Wight Thing

Funny.

[Smug the Fabulous]

In answer to the question, if the way people are responding to these films are right, then yes. And when I say people, I mean the people I've seen commenting on Peter Jackson's Facebook page. And possibly TORN. Not that I look on that website often, if at all (but the stuff I've read on here). But I'm think The Hobbit will just be one of those one time phenomenons. Once it's been and gone, that will be it. People will simply walk away. And in several years, what we'll have left is a charming little book from the late 1930s about a hobbit who joined a wizard and a band of dwarves on a grand adventure and discovered a wider world beyond his little home.
At least, that's what I'm thinking optimistically.

On the subject of directors, I just wondered what The Lord of the Rings would be like if Werner Herzog did it? Well, since we're talking the director of Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, I like to imagine it using practical effects and locations, long uninterrupted takes, an ambient score with some classical music, and I imagine Herzog would cast actual actors with dwarfism as hobbits and dwarves and have the actors playing Frodo and Sam going up an actual volcano.

[FerniesApple]

I would like to see The Hobbit directed by Lech Majewski, The Mill and the Cross was mind blowing, a painting come to life, haunting, faerie.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Yes, if it aint Baroque, don't fix it.

And if you do, at least don't make a hobbit of it!

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Would it really have been too much to ask, or to expect, that when somebody finally made a serious attempt to film Tolkien the goal would have been cinema that fell into the category which might be roughly defined as "cerebral epic" or "big-budget art film," a category which would include, say, 2001, Apocalypse Now and Ran?

I never wanted these big time PJ blockbusters made because it was clear from the start, with all the merchandising buzz even before filming was complete, that giving the movies the feel of the books was not in the least a goal. It was about "translation" and "adaptation", and to this day I feel that those who have only seen the films have no inkling of the deep meaning and real resonance of the books, infused by the author.
I fervently hope they never get the rights for Beren and Lúthien, or anything else to do with Middle-earth or Tolkien.