Tolkien Bio-pic

[Rhun charioteer]

Well she did convert to Catholicism to be with him, not sure how the movie will go about portraying that.

Anyway I'm sure I'll see it.

[Huinesoron]

Apparently the Tolkien Estate has 'disavowed' the biopic.

On Tuesday morning, the estate and family of Tolkien issued a terse statement in which they announced their “wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorise or participate in the making of this film”, and that “they do not endorse it or its content in any way”.

A spokesperson for the estate told the Guardian that the statement was intended to make its position clear, rather than heralding future legal action.

It's not really clear whether that's 'we disapprove of it and condemn it', or simply a statement that 'this does not have an official Seal Of Approval from the Estate'. John Garth (Tolkien and the Great War seems to think it's the latter, and points out that a Seal of Approval (or an... absence of an absence of such a seal, so to speak) could lead people to think the inaccuracies in the film have a stamp of authenticity.

hS

[Zigûr]

Some discussion I've just read online has posited that the lack of Estate involvement makes the biopic less likely to be hagiographical, but the trailers hardly make it look like some warts-and-all study of his life (not that there would be many 'warts' anyway, as far as I know).

It just looks to me like a fairly tepid period-piece coming-of-age/romantic drama with a WW1 backdrop and a bit of fantasy imagery thrown in for flavour.

I agree with John Garth, who manages to put a more cheery and positive spin on it than I would, that misconceptions will arise from this film. I expect Facebook comments sections and Reddit threads full of arguments between people who've only seen the film and people who've read a biography but misremember or misunderstand it. Interesting times ahead.

[Rhun charioteer]

I would say that like any cultural touchstone or legend, misconceptions and myths always arise.

Which is a testament to the longevity and long width of Tolkien's Legacy and the shadow he casts over popular culture

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Rhun charioteer

Which is a testament to the longevity and long width of Tolkien's Legacy and the shadow he casts over popular culture

I have to wonder, though, how much of that shadow is Tolkien's, and what part Peter Jackson's.

[Rhun charioteer]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I have to wonder, though, how much of that shadow is Tolkien's, and what part Peter Jackson's.

The Jackson movies would not exist if not for the source material. Even people who haven't read the books if they are even marginally aware of the movies they enjoy know that Tolkien was the author. Thus even the movies ultimately owe their clout to Tolkien because without him they could not exist.

Also the studio has responded to the estate's disavowal. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gam.../1100-6466429/

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I think people often forget that, although he wasn't the first or only fantasy author of the early twentieth century, it was Tolkien who launched the genre into the stratosphere. He's so pervasive that it's almost impossible now to conceive of the classic fantasy races in any terms other than his. You could argue that without him there would be no D&D, no sword and sorcery films, no fantasy culture as we know it. It's even possible that he has led more people to serious medieval studies than any other academic of his generation, and he certainly showed the way to anyone who wanted to use European mythology in fiction.

In short, he casts a long shadow. He's so much a part of the cultural landscape that people mistake Tolkien's inventions for tradition, or quote him without realising it. I think Peter Jackson owes him for more than some story ideas: he only had an audience, or even a subculture to join, because - in a rare move for him - Tolkien actually finished his Hobbit sequel. Those films are almost Tolkien eating himself, because so much that they take for granted was invented, revived or re-imagined by Tolkien, and much of the popular culture they draw on was influenced by his work. The shadow is his, and the films are just a finger of it.

As for the biopic: it will be what those are. It will give you a few highlights and greatest hits, interspersed with conjecture and narrative licence. I'm not planning to watch it until it appears in the Christmas schedule, when I'll be filling up the corners and not paying much attention anyway.