What did the movie help you "recover" - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Evisse the Blue · 01-08-2005, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbercrombieOfRohan

It is now a piece of literary work that I can understand as a piece of greatness but I can't grasp the same high that I experienced when I first read the books. I'm not saying that I'm tired of the books or the movies, I'm saying that it's like looking at hours and hours of Monet and appreciating their beauty but not being able to completely grasp it. Has anyone else shared a similiar experience?

In a way, yes, I think I have. The first time is always special. It's a bit weird actually that I try, with each reading to grasp the same emotional high, as you put it. Actually this is one of the main reasons why I re-read, and why I watch the movies as well.

Ok back to the scenes that helped me recover some parts of the book that I had not payed enough attention:

The final scene: I never really cared for the ending in the book, I had always found it simplistic and somewhat dissapointing. When I saw it in the movie, though, I got tears in my eyes (perhaps you should make a poll how many of us cried at the movies, Fordim, since I can see you're in the mood for it lately

). The movie version revealed to me the true beauty of that scene, its meaning - the simple pleasures of a hobbit's life: that's what it's all about. That's what Frodo was fighting for, that's what kept Sam going throughout all the horror. It's sort of Tolkien's way of saying to you to value food and cheer and flowers in the garden over 'hoarded gold' or bombastic endings, if you will.

The Ride of the Rohirrim would have been my choice as well, but that I found pretty impressive in the book too. Still, it's one of the best scenes in movie history, ever. (though I don't claim to know that much about movie history)

Boromir was for me too a revelation (due mostly to the great role by Sean Bean) - he made me like Boromir and see things from his point of view, which never happened during the book. Even though Tolkien tried sometimes to make Boromir more likeable, he 'made it up' by adding stuff which made him even more dislikeable than before, culminating with his famous trespassing. The end redeemed him somehow, but still (*gasp*) I think I prefer the end in the movies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lalwende

But, the films have recovered something pretty important, and that's not to do with my images of anything. It's that all the Tolkien fans have finally emerged, blinking, into the daylight!

I did emerge into the daylight blinking to see the movies, but then went straight back to my hole in the ground!

Lyta_Underhill · 01-08-2005, 08:54 PM

Yet another great thread idea from Fordim's endless reservoir of analysis and appreciation and lots of theorizing as well! I find it irresistible to add a bit of my own thoughts on this theme:

I must second and third the impact of the film Boromir on my appreciation of the books, as Sean Bean humanized the Great Man of Gondor into a man conflicted by his nature, who recognizes it and redeems his fall almost immediately and far-reachingly. If it had not been for this newfound appreciation for Boromir, I doubt I would have found the additional depths in Pippin, who subsequently became one of my absolute favorite characters. The resonance between Boromir and Pippin (and also parallelled by the Merry-Theoden and Pippin-Denethor relationships) fleshed out an important aspect of hobbit nature that I could not have lived without now that I think about it. This development tied together all of Middle Earth in an important way for me.

Another aspect of the movie that brought the book to new life were the Ents, an important subconscious image that buried itself deeply in my mind the first time I read the books and subsequently surfaced in strange ways over and over again throughout the years. Seeing them and watching their interactions with the newly expanded hobbits made my mind explode in a real 'faerie' way, if that makes any sense. It was almost like eating the faerie star Tolkien presents in "Smith of Wootton Major." But there were many things that gained this level as I re-read LOTR several times thereafter and finally made it through the Silmarillion (twice in a row...) and on to the other tales. It was like finally seeing a magical figure that had been standing in front of me and waving its arms frantically for years!

There is more, but I will probably have to return later to finish my thoughts. Great thread!

Cheers!
Lyta

01-08-2005, 08:54 PM	#2
Lyta_Underhill Haunted Halfling Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: an uncounted length of steps--floating between air molecules Posts: 841	Recovering what was hidden but never lost.... Yet another great thread idea from Fordim's endless reservoir of analysis and appreciation and lots of theorizing as well! I find it irresistible to add a bit of my own thoughts on this theme: I must second and third the impact of the film Boromir on my appreciation of the books, as Sean Bean humanized the Great Man of Gondor into a man conflicted by his nature, who recognizes it and redeems his fall almost immediately and far-reachingly. If it had not been for this newfound appreciation for Boromir, I doubt I would have found the additional depths in Pippin, who subsequently became one of my absolute favorite characters. The resonance between Boromir and Pippin (and also parallelled by the Merry-Theoden and Pippin-Denethor relationships) fleshed out an important aspect of hobbit nature that I could not have lived without now that I think about it. This development tied together all of Middle Earth in an important way for me. Another aspect of the movie that brought the book to new life were the Ents, an important subconscious image that buried itself deeply in my mind the first time I read the books and subsequently surfaced in strange ways over and over again throughout the years. Seeing them and watching their interactions with the newly expanded hobbits made my mind explode in a real 'faerie' way, if that makes any sense. It was almost like eating the faerie star Tolkien presents in "Smith of Wootton Major." But there were many things that gained this level as I re-read LOTR several times thereafter and finally made it through the Silmarillion (twice in a row...) and on to the other tales. It was like finally seeing a magical figure that had been standing in front of me and waving its arms frantically for years! There is more, but I will probably have to return later to finish my thoughts. Great thread! Cheers! Lyta __________________ “…she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after, and elanor and niphredil bloom no more east of the Sea.”